Romo deflects coaching talk

[January 24, 2019]  Emphasizing that the game is the thing, CBS broadcaster Tony Romo said repeatedly on Wednesday that he is not pondering an NFL coaching job.

Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who last played in 2016, previously was the object of speculation that he might give up his TV analyst job to return as a player. He currently works with longtime play-by-play man Jim Nantz.

On a conference call with reporters in the lead-up to Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, which CBS will broadcast, Romo didn't rule out coaching at some point, but he made it clear that it wasn't in his short-term plans.

"I'm really happy where I'm at," said Romo, 38. "I'm sure, at some point, 25 years from now, you'll want to do something competitive in that regard ... but I like where I'm at. I don't think about that right now at all."

Romo, who played in 156 games for the Cowboys, starting 127, and throwing for more than 34,000 yards, has won acclaim for his broadcasting. In the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, he displayed his knack for knowing what the teams were thinking in predicting plays.

"The game is the story, and you're just going to call it," Romo said. "I'm really talking out loud. There's no real big planned thing. There's no plan of doing it. Once in a blue moon, you get lucky."

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo throws a football to show co-host Luke Bryan (not pictured) before introducing a performance by Dieks Bentley at the 50th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Arlington, Texas April 19, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Even if Romo wasn't boastful about his performance, it wasn't just coincidence, Nantz told reporters, and the former QB is no "fortuneteller."

"When we have these key moments late in the game and we're all dazzled by what he's doing, it's a testament to his years of work and preparation," Nantz said. "He's not guessing, and he's not getting some sort of message from the gods. He's seeing what (New England Patriots quarterback Tom) Brady saw."

--Field Level Media

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