NEW YORK — For his next magic trick, Tony Romo wants to explore the stifling pressure the Super Bowl puts on the spouses, family and friends of players.
The former Cowboys quarterback turned CBS' lead NFL analyst dazzled TV viewers and critics with his clairvoyance during the Patriots' 37-31 win over the Chiefs on Sunday. Aided by the play-calling of mentor Jim Nantz, Romo seemed to know what Tom Brady and the Pats were going to do before they did it.
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Now, Romo wants to educate his audience even more about the human elements tied to the NFL championship. There's no thrill more thrilling, or a defeat more agonizing, than a Super Bowl win or loss, he said during a CBS event previewing the network's coverage of Super Bowl 53 on Feb. 3 (6:30 p.m. ET). And he hopes to drive home that point during the broadcast.
Of the Big Four pro sports, only the NFL decides winners/losers in a single-elimination format. Reputations are won, legacies are created, heroes are made and unmade, Romo said.
But the Big Game puts enormous pressure not just on players but on their family, friends, coaches, and even high school pals. Though Romo never played in a Super Bowl, he suffered his own playoff heartbreak with America's Team and knows plenty of former players and coaches who have won and lost Super Bowls, and is well aware of the ripple effects. He promised to explore that dark side during his first Super Bowl broadcast.
"To these people, this is everything. It what you wake up for, it’s what you do every single morning, to get to this game. Then it’s there, it’s right in front of you. It’s people's legacies. But also it's their wives and their kids. Someone’s going to succeed. Someone’s going to fail. It’s the highest level of drama in front of the whole world," Romo said.
Talking about mom and the kids crying because dad lost the Big One may sound like a downer on such a party-hearty day. But CBS' first-string team of Romo, Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson have built up so much goodwill with viewers over the past two seasons that they'll likely go anywhere Romo wants to take them on Super Sunday.
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Romo pointed to his own CBS "NFL Today" colleague Bill Cowher as someone whose life was changed by winning Super Bowl XL as coach of the Steelers after losing Super Bowl XXX to the Cowboys.
Said Romo: "You can’t really grasp how big it is directly to that owner, to that head coach. This guy’s got 10 more years left if he wins this game for his team. If not, he’s got about two. … Everyone’s jobs are (on the line). You’re just defined differently. It’s so huge. And everybody knows it. And the wives of each player know it. And their dad knows it. And their brother. Everyone. The nerves of this are just to the nth degree. I want to get people to understand that this game is even bigger than they think."
Romo brings an enthusiasm to an NFL game broadcast not seen since John Madden. But he's also a student of the game. CBS Sports boss Sean McManus was not surprised and said he'll bring a typically "thoughtful" approach to Rams vs. Patriots in Super Bowl 53.
James Lofton, the Pro Football Hall of Famer turned CBS analyst, played in three Super Bowls with the Bills.
Players are creatures of habit. They all expect to win the Big One after winnng their playoff and conference championship games, he said. It's not until they retire that they realize just how much the Super Bowl means. Not just to their own reputations and futures, but to their families as well.
"You don’t realize the magnitude of it until you move away from it — and you’re looking at in the rearview mirror," said Lofton, who attended Super Bowl I as a kid with his dad. "As you’re playing you know it’s a big deal. But you don’t know the historical impact of the game. Each Super Bowl is kind of condensed to about five or six minutes of footage.
"Are you in those highlights? Are you on the right side of those highlights? Or are you on the wrong side of those highlights? For all of sports eternity, that game is going to impact your legacy as a player, as a team, as a community. All of the above."
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Lofton thinks the NFL's one and done playoff approach is the most dramatic in sports. Still, he realizes that Super Bowl losers don't get the same level of respect as, say, World Series losers, who won the American League or National League pennants.
That's why it's a shame that non-calls — such as the obvious pass interference by the Rams against the Saints in the NFC Championship Game — change the destiny of entire franchises.
"I think that we as a football society have drawn ourselves into that corner," Lofton said. "The only thing that's important on gameday is winning. Whether it’s the regular season, postseason, playoffs, the only thing that’s important is winning."
