ATLANTA – A good but hardly great quarterback in his 13 years with the Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo has needed less than two seasons to reach the pinnacle of his new gig as the man who brought to the sports analyst profession what high-definition brought to picture clarity.
Once a scrambling, sometimes fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants quarterback, Romo the CBS game analyst deciphers a defense with such pre-snap precision that he consistently tells us not only what we've seen but what we're about to see.
Play-by-play partner Jim Nantz has introduced the word "Romostradamus" to the NFL lexicon. Upset Chiefs fans are still wanting to know why fired defensive coordinator Bob Sutton didn't see what Romo was seeing down the stretch in Kansas City's AFC Championship Game loss to New England.
And the funniest coach in America, Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, delivered the best of the many lighthearted jabs that Romo has been getting since his standout performance in calling the AFC title game.
When Phillips was asked what he'll do to deal with the Patriots' unpredictability, Romo's former Cowboys head coach joked that he'll request an ear piece that's tuned to Romo's call of the game.
"That's probably not a good idea," Romo said Tuesday during CBS' pre-Super Bowl news conference in Atlanta.
CBS trotted out all of its lead on-air and behind-the-scenes talent Tuesday. Romo, obviously, was the center of attention. He clearly was uncomfortable with the whole "Romostradamus" promotion from his employer and line of questioning from reporters.
Asked by Nantz to describe what it felt like to watch the game back and see how consistently he predicted a play before it happened, Romo drew laughs by saying, "I don't remember. I blacked out."
According to the New Yorker, which went back and reviewed the Chiefs game, Romo predicted 15 plays down the stretch and was right on 13 of them. The highlight was spotting Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in favorable coverage out wide and accurately predicting what pass would come if the safety came down, which the safety did a split second later.
