Tony Romo was sensational in his broadcast debut for CBS Sports on Sunday, calling out plays in the Raiders-Titans game before they happened and demonstrating a nice on-air chemistry with play-by-play partner Jim Nantz.
But the clairvoyance that made the rookie NFL broadcaster sound so impressive could also cause him, and CBS, problems down the line.
The recently retired Cowboys quarterback predicted runs to the left and right, safety blitzes, play-calling and fourth-down strategy. It was uncanny.
A No. 1 NFL game analyst is not supposed to be a novelty act at a cocktail party, though.
Romo predicting plays before they happen could grow old very fast, especially if he's wrong often enough that his gaffes become a meme on social media.
Inaccuracy doomed Mike Carey, CBS's attempted answer to Fox Sports' popular rules "analyst" Mike Pereira. The former referee is widely acknowledged as a great guy, but he was confidently wrong on TV too many times. At the end, Carey became a punch line, and CBS had to dump him.
MORE: Romo draws on familiar mindset — doubted but determined
Don't forget, Romo will be calling Thursday night and Sunday games. That doesn't give him a lot of prep time, especially as he tries to learn the AFC after spending his career in the NFC East.
Besides entertaining viewers, the real role of a game analyst is to be an on-air teacher, not a fortune-teller. I think Romo's smart enough to realize this.
If he can show viewers how to anticipate plays from formations on the field, and the strategy behind them, then Romo could be on his way to a John Madden-like Hall of Fame broadcast career.
Can't ever remember gaining as much strategic insight from announcers as I have from Romo in just over one quarter. https://t.co/jZUxYjHcqi
— Dan Turner (@dtsturner) September 10, 2017
The real reason CBS Sports president Sean McManus tabbed the 37-year old Romo to replace the 61-year-old Phil Simms in the booth is that Romo knows today's quarterback-focused, pass-happy NFL. He know the players, the formations, the audibles, the checkdowns, the blitzes.
That familiarity is also the reason CBS added 36-year-old Nate Burleson to "The NFL Today" pregame show, and why ESPN replaced graybeards like Mike Ditka with much younger analysts like Randy Moss, Charles Woodson and Matt Hasselbeck on "Sunday NFL Countdown."
AWKWARD: Phil Simms asks Romo how the analyst's seat feels
McManus' main worry now is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones trying to lure his surrogate son back to Dallas if Romo's successor, Dak Prescott, gets hurt.
Romo showed the kind of strategic insight that could make him a great analyst. Don't forget he's being tutored by Nantz, one of the all-time greats who's personally invested in his friend succeeding.
But if Romo lets the positive headlines go to his head and decides to be the Swami of game broadcasting, he could learn that nobody really knows the NFL that well.
