CBS Sports has placed lead NFL analyst Tony Romo on leave following his arrest last week in Wisconsin on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence. The network announced Friday that Romo will be on leave "until further notice."
JJ Watt will join Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson as CBS Sports’ lead NFL team during Romo’s absence.
Romo, 46, was arrested on July 23 after being stopped by police while driving south on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin. According to a report from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, Romo performed poorly on field sobriety tests. He was subsequently booked and released.
Citations released by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office indicated that an open bottle of an alcoholic beverage was found in the passenger’s side of Romo’s Jeep during an inventory before it was towed. Police stopped Romo after he was observed passing cars in a gore area, which separates interstate traffic from vehicles entering from an on-ramp.
Body camera footage released earlier this week showed Romo telling deputies he had been coming from a golf course and was en route to visit his grandparents. A deputy informed Romo that he suspected impairment due to "red glassy eyes" and an "odor of an intoxicating alcoholic beverage." Romo, who played high school football approximately 35 miles from Milwaukee in Burlington, Wisconsin, has a court date scheduled for September 21.
He has served as the lead game analyst for CBS’ NFL coverage since 2017. Prior to his broadcasting career, Romo was a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 2004 to 2016. He remains the Cowboys’ franchise leader in career touchdown passes and previously held the record for career passing yards.
Watt joined CBS in 2023, serving as an analyst on "The NFL Today" for two seasons before being part of the network’s second-string NFL crew starting last season.