There was little doubt that former Dallas Cowboys quarterback would be a congenial and charming presence in the broadcasting booth for CBS, but few would have predicted the phenomenon and controversy that he’s brought with his enthusiastic style and amazing ability to predict plays as they’re developing before the snap.
Just a month into his new gig as an NFL announcer, Romo has impressed fans with his ability to read defenses and offenses, calling out the action before it happens based on formations, situational analyses, and player movement with disarming frequency.
When asked by his booth partner Jim Nantz about his talents during their first regular season game together, Romo simply explained, “I’ve seen football in the NFL for 14 years.”
However, his willingness to jump in with analysis and prognostications hasn’t endeared everyone to his game-calling style, especially those in the old guard of broadcasting who believe that the color commentator (Romo’s role in the booth) shouldn’t “step” on the work of his play-by-play partner Nantz. Veteran broadcaster Brent Musburger who thinks Romo’s schtick detracts from the overall experience for viewers at home.
Musburger, unimpressed by Romo’s ability to “predict the future,” chastised the young commentator, stating:
“Tony, get off it. First of all, you’re intruding on your play-by-play man Jim Nantz, who’s just trying to give us the scene … and the more years you spend away from the league, you’re going to know less and less about the personnel that’s out on the field. So I’m blowing a ‘stop the hype’ right now.”
Another veteran TV personality, studio host Shannon Sharpe, thinks that while Romo’s skills may be impressive, pulling back the curtain on plays before they happen will ultimately spoil the action for fans.
Speaking to USA Today’s FTW, Max Negin, an associate professor of broadcasting at Eton University, thinks that, while impressive, Romo’s unorthodox approach ruins the traditional conversation between a color commentator and play-by-play man. “My first reaction is he’s kind of doing it wrong,” he said. “He’s talking over his play-by-play guy; he’s shouting out things during the broadcast. Someone who looks at traditional sports broadcasting would look at that and shake his head like, ‘What is he doing?’”
Just four games into the NFL’s regular season (and four “trial” preseason games that were called by the duo but not broadcast), Romo’s personal style and rapport with booth partner Jim Nantz is far from set in stone. Despite his Nostradamus-like approach to calling out plays, it’s possible that Romo’s unbridled excitement could get him in trouble with a controversial or questionable utterance at any moment. Further, time will tell if the novelty of this departure in style will prove durable for fans who have for so long relied on a more traditional back and forth that relies on the broadcasting duo taking turns.
To that end, it seems as though Nantz is adapting his style of playcalling to accommodate Tony’s insights prior to the play, prompting the young broadcaster to speak up as the snap nears:
It may not be familiar, but most fans appear to be enjoying a fresh approach to the well-worn broadcasting formula. With over a dozen games per week, fans will always have the option to fall back into old habits with other announcers. But if they’ve been looking for something new from an NFL broadcast, it appears they’ve found it with Tony Romo.
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TikTok shocked by 15-year-old unhinged viral clip of kids performing Scarface in school play
Think about the most outrageous film that could be adapted to the stage. Now, imagine the cast of that theatrical production is entirely children, ranging in age from 7 to 10. Now, film it and let the world react.
That’s what director Marc Klasfeld had in mind when he held auditions with professional child actors for a shocking video, meant to look like an elementary school production of the cult film-favorite Scarface. In a now 15-year-old interview with Entertainment Weekly, when asked why he thought this was a good idea, Klasfeld admits, "I thought this would be a nice fit into the kind of YouTube arena of viral videos. And I was right."
The result? Kids yelling “mother-fudger,” piles of popcorn meant to look like cocaine, and outrageous, lengthy scenes of children pointing Super Soakers at one another.
Marc, mostly known as an accomplished commercial and music video director, later adds, "I enjoy making provocative art. I like stirring debate and causing conversation. You're going to get two sides of the coin no matter what you do. People are going to love and hate everything. People loved and hated Avatar. People loved and hated the Jennifer Aniston movie. And people love and hate this. I guess that's a part of having something that's successful out there. There’s got to be certain people that hate it for people to love it."
Once they got their perfect cast, it didn’t take long to put together. He shares, "It was a one-take, so it was pretty much just choosing the right take. About a month altogether."
People sure did react, as it acquired millions of views and comments from all over the Internet. Some were horrified, some were outraged, and many thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen. But Marc emphasizes that the kids in the video were not scandalized. "They’ve heard the f-word. They’ve seen more violence in their everyday lives for as long as they can remember. So for this, they’ve seen worse things than this all the time. So this wasn’t that big of a deal for them."
Enter TikTok. The clip (which just popped up again recently on Facebook) was reposted a few years back, and, once again, the comments continue to run the gamut from indignation to full praise. One TikTok user exclaimed, "Bro, I can’t even remember my grocery list, how the fudge did these kids memorize this whole scene lol?"
Others expressed confusion: "I'm not sure whether to be angry or amazed." Some chose anger: "Just imagine, you know these kids watched the movie to get the characters right. And the parents cheering? Yeah, yeah."
Many commenters believed it was a real school play and commended the production for "keepin' it real": "That school keeps it real. Nowadays, kids know so much about guns and drugs, might as well teach them that bad choices don’t end well."
Yet another enjoyed it but was concerned that the parents of the children would not. "Love the tray full of popcorn. But my God, I would hate to see the hell these parents probably raised."
For the most part, the reviews were glowing. Many complimented the acting, and one claimed they definitely would have "preferred this play over their own school production of Macbeth."
And perhaps the biggest compliment? "Al Pacino will be proud."