It turns out Tony Romo is a world-class “Madden NFL” player.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was preparing for his new gig as CBS’ color commentator this offseason, and he tried to use a rather unconventional way to practice. And Sal Iacono, who writes for “Jimmy Kimmel Live” where he’s known as “Cousin Sal,” told “The Bill Simmons Podcast” on Monday that he came up with the idea while he and Kimmel were hanging out at Romo’s house.
“I said, ‘You know what you should do,'” Iacono told Simmons, per Business Insider. “‘You should watch ‘Madden’ and see what the play-by-play is and the color commentary. Then you can see what is marketable and you can see what you want to stay away from and what to go with. He says, ‘That’s a great idea.’ So he puts ‘Madden’ on and he plays.”
But Romo apparently is highly ranked in the video game’s online community and super competitive, so he wound up ignoring the “Madden NFL” announcers the whole time he was playing.
“We end up watching him play all afternoon, beating up on these 12-year-olds,” Iacono said. “He’s not listening to a second of the color commentary. Jimmy’s like, ‘Do you realize you didn’t listen at all to what they were saying?’ (Romo) was like, ‘I know, I’ve got to beat this guy.'”
Romo wound up being a hit in his debut calling the Oakland Raiders vs. Tennessee Titans game Sunday, so it looks like he didn’t need that practice after all.
He’ll be partnered with Jim Nantz for CBS’ call of the New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints game Sunday, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
Thumbnail photo via Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports Images
