May 9, 2019; Dallas, TX, USA; Tony Romo walks off the on the first green with a birdie during the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson golf tournament at Trinity Forest Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Tony Romo was universally praised early in his tenure as an NFL analyst for CBS Sports, replacing Phil Simms in the broadcast booth and working alongside legendary play-by-play voice Jim Nantz.

After retiring from football in 2017, Tony Romo signed a multi-year deal with CBS Sports to serve as an analyst on their No. 1 team. Early on, Romo’s passion, energy and mastery of correctly predicting plays (notably the 2018 AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs) drew rave reviews.

But as time has passed, more and more fans have gotten tired of Romo. Many called for the former Pro Bowl quarterback to get fired after a lackluster day on the job in the Kansas City Chiefs-Indianapolis Colts game.

And of course, there have been cringeworthy and dirty-sounding sentences, such as the time he said the Patriots were “DTF” (he meant details, toughness and finishing) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Emmanuel Acho Has An Interesting Take On Tony Romo’s Regression

Emmanuel Acho posing at NetFlix eventEmmanuel Acho (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images)
In a lengthy X/Twitter post, FS1 analyst and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho gave an interesting take on why Romo has declined so much as an analyst in the CBS broadcast booth.

Acho noted that things are easier for analysts in the beginning because of their familiarity with some of the players, coordinators and play calls. But as Romo hasn’t played in almost a decade, players, coaches and schemes have changed.

As Acho points out, heavily panned analysts like Romo don’t lose their jobs because they don’t affect viewership:

In 2020, Romo and CBS agreed to a 10-year contract extension worth $17 million annually, the New York Post reported at the time.