CBS' Jim Nantz defends Tony Romo ahead of Super Bowl call

Legendary announcer Jim Nantz of CBS Sports recently told media insider Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated he has "never had one conversation with" analyst and broadcasting partner Tony Romo about the criticisms of Romo that have hovered over the duo across the past few NFL seasons. 

"Now people say, 'Oh, wait a minute, don't people send you sometimes clips or something on Twitter?' Sure," Nantz explained during the conversation. "But how I would get from there to see what people are saying about Tony? No. I wouldn't even think about it. I'm gonna use my own judgment of how the broadcasts are going and I couldn't be happier." 

Romo hasn't been shy about responding to those who have questioned his dedication to his craft and ripped his on-the-air work since he signed a 10-year contract in February 2020 reportedly worth up to $180M. As noted by the Awful Announcing website, Romo received what generously could be referred to as mixed reviews for his calls of playoff games last month. 

Romo and Nantz will handle television duties for the Super Bowl LVIII matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. Respected veterans of the industry such as Al Michaels defended Romo ahead of Sunday's game via comments shared by Ben Strauss of The Washington Post, while Romo and Nantz insisted this week that their bond is as strong as ever. 

"I love working with Tony," Nantz told Traina. "For anybody to ever even think that ... well, again, I'm not even sure this is what they're saying. Our chemistry is great. Our time together is just like it is on the air. We have a lot of laughter, a lot of fun. We see silliness. Sometimes we bring that silliness to the air. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. That's humor." 

Fair or not, Romo and every other analyst will be under the figurative microscope in a different way next season once future Hall of Famer Tom Brady begins calling games for Fox. Brady may not be a hit in Week 1, but it's difficult to imagine he'll be labeled as "unprepared" for assignments at any point as a rookie announcer. 

"We're trying the best we can," Nantz added. "I think we've had, I know we've had, a super year and I really feel good about it going into (Super Bowl LVIII)."