Latest / Wicked Radio with Bill Adams / 10-5: Tony Romo Out At CBS After That July DUI. Fair Deal?

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10-5: Tony Romo Out At CBS After That July DUI. Fair Deal? · Wicked Radio with Bill Adams

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: After a nice, big weekend, I hope it was awesome
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: for you. I hope everything went your way, and I'm
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: sure we had all kinds of stories that picked up
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: over the weekend that are more important than what we're
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: talking about today. I'm sure there were big political stories,
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  Speaker 1: those Trump rallies, elections in other countries, all this other stuff.
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  Speaker 1: I get it. But there was one particular story that
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: fascinated me over the weekend, and it comes from the
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  Speaker 1: sports world, it comes from the media world, it comes from,
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  Speaker 1: believe it or not, the legal world, too. And I'm
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  Speaker 1: not here to cast judgment or... certainly defend anybody's DUI
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  Speaker 1: arrest or anything else. But Tony Romo being out officially,
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  Speaker 1: as expected, at CBS Sports is an interesting story. And
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  Speaker 1: believe it or not, it does relate to us. And
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  Speaker 1: you're thinking, what does this have to do with me?
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  Speaker 1: I'm not as high profile as Tony Romo, and I
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  Speaker 1: certainly wouldn't ever drink and drive. I get that. But
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  Speaker 1: this is a different media world these days. This is
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  Speaker 1: a different world. The takeaway that we're going to get
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: to here is, Yeah, Tony Romo lost his job over
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  Speaker 1: that July DUI arrest. But we're all on camera. You
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: got to remember that. It's horrifying to think about at times. And,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm a privacy rights person, advocate too. But
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  Speaker 1: in reality, you got to realize this. It's a different world.
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  Speaker 1: We'll get into it. Thanks for finding me. I appreciate you.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: And I hope it was an awesome weekend for you.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Monday. We can radio live stream 8 a.m.
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  Speaker 1: ish Monday through Friday on X and YouTube and Facebook.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: The replay is always on there as well. And the
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: audio podcast uploaded shortly after the live stream every single day.
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  Speaker 1: All right. This is the crux of the story. The
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: word finally went down late Friday night, and then the
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  Speaker 1: details came out on Saturday about Tony Romo, ex-Cowboy Star quarterback,
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  Speaker 1: and the lead game analyst on CBS's number one NFL team,
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  Speaker 1: number one NFL coverage team. That's with Jim Nance. And
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: whoever his guy is right now. Right now it's J.J.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: Watt filling in permanently. We'll get it because Tony Romo
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  Speaker 1: was not there because of what happened in July. A
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  Speaker 1: DUI arrest in Wisconsin. I guess it was Milwaukee County where,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it was not a good look at all.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm not here at all to defend him, especially
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  Speaker 1: with that much money. We'll get into the money here
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  Speaker 1: in a second. Should never be driving drunk, obviously. And
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  Speaker 1: a guy like that can certainly afford to have his
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  Speaker 1: own driver. I'm not here to defend that. I'm also
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  Speaker 1: not here to attack the guy. I just think it's
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  Speaker 1: an interesting takeaway in how this happened, because here's the
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  Speaker 1: first point. This stuff usually didn't happen with these big
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  Speaker 1: CBS networks or these big television networks. It really didn't. Technically, technically,
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  Speaker 1: it's a serious issue, but it's a civil offense, I guess,
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  Speaker 1: in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. That's one thing. But also, if
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  Speaker 1: you look back in some famous broadcasters that we've had
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  Speaker 1: in the past, usually didn't lose their jobs over offenses
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  Speaker 1: like this. They do now. Why? Because like I said
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: in the introduction, we're all on camera all the time.
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  Speaker 1: Whether it's body cam like you're going to see here,
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  Speaker 1: or it's ring doorbell cameras, or dash cams, or a
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  Speaker 1: Tesla around the vehicle car, everybody can see you guys,
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  Speaker 1: or just a simple cell phone. Keep that in mind.
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  Speaker 1: All right, here's the first takeaway. A little bit of
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  Speaker 1: details in the case, too. And this is, if you
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  Speaker 1: follow enough news stories over the years, you'll notice this.
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  Speaker 1: Other networks love to pounce on other networks' stars being fired.
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  Speaker 1: It's just a thing. Like if Tony Romo, who was
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: working for CBS, is finally let go, all the other
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  Speaker 1: networks make it a top story, no matter what else
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  Speaker 1: is going on. It's just what they do. It's just
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  Speaker 1: an insidious world. Like ABC's coverage of this, which was
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  Speaker 1: just the other night. Former NFL star Tony Romo is
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  Speaker 1: out at CBS after his DUI arrest this summer. Here's
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  Speaker 1: Stephanie Ramos. How many drinks have you had?
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  Speaker 2: Tonight, NFL broadcaster Tony Romo, who was sidelined after this
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  Speaker 2: arrest for drunk driving, is officially out of a job.
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  Speaker 2: CBS Sports announcing they had, quote, mutually agreed to part ways.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know how mutual it was. But anyway,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to hear his his explanation in the entire thing.
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  Speaker 1: And was it a good look? And again, I just
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  Speaker 1: want to reiterate this. I'm not here to defend him.
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  Speaker 1: And DUI and drinking and driving, it's not good at all.
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  Speaker 1: I'm just here to look at the takeaway and what
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  Speaker 1: this actually means. Because sports networks especially didn't used to
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  Speaker 1: do this to their stars. Granted, it's a bad look.
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  Speaker 1: You probably saw this. I mean, this was back in
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  Speaker 1: July when it immediately happened. And this was a viral
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  Speaker 1: video for, it went for like weeks because it was
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  Speaker 1: just bad. They pull them over, as you saw and
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  Speaker 1: heard just a little bit there in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.
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  Speaker 1: And then I guess they take them to the station house,
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  Speaker 1: which is where they did the DUI tests. And it just,
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  Speaker 1: obviously was not good. That was about, by the way, and.
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  Speaker 2: This is neither here nor there, but that was about
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  Speaker 2: the only objection he put up.
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  Speaker 1: With for the entire thing. I think it's relevant to
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  Speaker 1: keep in mind. Maybe you don't. You know, once you
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  Speaker 1: hear DUI arrest, maybe that's enough for you, and I
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  Speaker 1: get it, and it should be enough for me too,
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  Speaker 1: but I thought it was interesting that he was completely compliant,
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  Speaker 1: wasn't violent. The only thing he objected to was the,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the blown into the breathalyzer test. That was it.
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  Speaker 1: So it wasn't, you know, interesting to keep in mind
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  Speaker 1: when you look at the contractual situation here, and there's
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  Speaker 1: millions of dollars involved on why they let him go
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  Speaker 1: finally and why it took so long for them to
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  Speaker 1: let him go. This is July. We're in October now.
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  Speaker 1: And to think about it, because this is a massive contract.
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  Speaker 1: I said it there in the introduction. This isn't just
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  Speaker 1: our local yokel sports anchor who does five minutes, you know,
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  Speaker 1: on the weekend. This is Tony Robo. Tony Romo, who
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  Speaker 1: was on the number one NFL coverage broadcast team, partnered
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  Speaker 1: up with Jim Nance with CBS. This is a massive
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  Speaker 1: media job. What kind of money are we talking about here?
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  Speaker 1: He signed in 2020 a 10-year, $ 180 million deal with CBS.
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  Speaker 1: He had roughly four years and $ 72 million on his contract.
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  Speaker 1: And here's the information that came out from the news
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  Speaker 1: stories over the weekend. When this broke, because I know
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  Speaker 1: there are more important stories out there, I get it.
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  Speaker 1: But it is still a pretty big deal. He's reportedly
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  Speaker 1: likely to keep a good portion of it. That right there.
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  Speaker 1: you shouldn't feel sorry for the guy in getting his
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  Speaker 1: life together. You really shouldn't. He's got plenty of money
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  Speaker 1: to do it. Let's say that. Then we got to
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  Speaker 1: the statement because either through his publicist or his team,
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  Speaker 1: maybe himself, I look at this statement again. I'm not
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  Speaker 1: defending any of this stuff. None of it. But I
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  Speaker 1: got to tell you, they could have gone a different way.
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  Speaker 1: He could have objected, fought it in court. done a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of media interviews defending himself and trying to cover
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  Speaker 1: up the entire issue and what we all saw in
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  Speaker 1: that DUI arrest and all this other stuff. No. He
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  Speaker 1: or his team made this statement, and I thought this
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  Speaker 1: was pretty stand-up. Quote, I'm going to use this time
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  Speaker 1: to take a break, something I've never done before, and
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  Speaker 1: focus on my health and my family before moving on
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  Speaker 1: to my next opportunity. I'm grateful for my time with
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  Speaker 1: CBS Sports. It's a pretty good statement and a way
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  Speaker 1: to handle it. Not defending it, just saying, if If
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  Speaker 1: you run into that kind of situation, that's probably the
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  Speaker 1: best way to go. That's a lot of money. But
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. I know. A DUI arrest is never good,
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  Speaker 1: no matter who you are or how much money you're making.
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  Speaker 1: I totally understand that. But it's a different time. This
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  Speaker 1: is a different media time. This is a different time
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  Speaker 1: in life in general for everybody. Like I said, this
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  Speaker 1: is the digital age. For example, with all these major–
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  Speaker 1: major sports figure, not only being an ex-Cowboys quarterback of
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  Speaker 1: all things, talk about high profile, but being on the
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  Speaker 1: top CBS sports broadcast team with Jim Nance. That's a
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  Speaker 1: big high profile job. I'm not saying all these names
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  Speaker 1: I'm about to mention here were guilty of any of
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  Speaker 1: this stuff. I'm just using them as an example. And
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  Speaker 1: keep in mind, what if, and you think it was
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  Speaker 1: just at least a possibility, they also have gotten in
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  Speaker 1: trouble with a civil offense in their careers, right? Think
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  Speaker 1: about Harry Carey. Member of the Cubs broadcaster, holy cow,
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  Speaker 1: who admittedly was half the time hammered in the broadcast booth.
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  Speaker 1: We know that. I'm not saying he got a DUI,
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  Speaker 1: but could you imagine that he would? Pat Summerall, again,
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  Speaker 1: with John Madden, that used to be their number one
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  Speaker 1: NFL broadcast team. Had gone to rehab, had some drinking
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  Speaker 1: incidents in his life. Maybe Dandy Don Meredith on Monday
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  Speaker 1: Night Football back in the day when I was a
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  Speaker 1: kid or you were a kid. Maybe John Madden. Again,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that they were guilty of any DUIs
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  Speaker 1: or anything. But back in the day, if you were
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  Speaker 1: a number one sports broadcaster on the number one NFL
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  Speaker 1: coverage team, what I'm saying is the networks would go
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  Speaker 1: out of their way to cover for you a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: And it's interesting that since this broke out, a lot
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  Speaker 1: of legal analysts have poked into the conversation here and
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  Speaker 1: they've talked about this. How... they really were wrestling with
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  Speaker 1: the idea of whether or not to let him go.
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  Speaker 1: And they tried to figure out how this reacts to,
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  Speaker 1: how this works into the morals clause of this CBS
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  Speaker 1: contract that Tony Romo had. A civil offense? Wasn't violent?
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  Speaker 1: Wasn't good? Should never drink and drive? They've never quite
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  Speaker 1: fired anybody over something like this because usually in the
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  Speaker 1: morals clause, and this is what the lawyers are all saying,
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  Speaker 1: the contract lawyers who chimed in on this, is saying, usually,
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  Speaker 1: and they looked into this contract, it's about violence, domestic violence,
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  Speaker 1: any kind of a crime, gun charges. This wasn't that,
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  Speaker 1: and they still let him go. Now, that could either
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  Speaker 1: be they're afraid of him being a smoking gun or
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  Speaker 1: a ticking time bomb and something else was going on
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  Speaker 1: and they knew about this, just wasn't worth the liability.
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  Speaker 1: Or they knew that we're in a different age now.
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  Speaker 1: And even a guy as high profile like that can
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  Speaker 1: lose that much money in a contract, even though he's
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  Speaker 1: going to be totally fine financially. If that can happen
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  Speaker 1: to him, that can happen to any of us. The
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  Speaker 1: chances are that I or you or anybody right now
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  Speaker 1: is going to be as high profile as him or
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  Speaker 1: very slim. I get that. I totally do. But again,
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  Speaker 1: that's the takeaway. We're all on camera these days. All
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  Speaker 1: of us are. So I think a corporation, whether it's
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: CBS or maybe you work for some high-tech firm, maybe
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: even work for a smaller company, because there's so much
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: coverage of all of us these days, and it's kind
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: of a horrifying thought to think about, actually, especially if
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  Speaker 1: you value your privacy. Just keep that in mind as
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: the Tony Romo example. They can find you no matter
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  Speaker 1: where they are. So the takeaway is Tony Romo wants
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  Speaker 1: to know this. Did I pass this test? Turn around.
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  Speaker 2: No, I didn't.
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  Speaker 1: No, Tony, you didn't. You didn't pass the test. So, again,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not feeling sorry for the guy. He's going to
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  Speaker 1: walk away with still about, they estimate, what did we
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  Speaker 1: have there? $ 74, $ 80 million. And he made this statement,
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  Speaker 1: which I think would mean that he's going to turn
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: his life around. And I hope a guy like that does,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: because I think he said the responsible thing, even after
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: doing that. Not justifying it all, drinking and driving it all.
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  Speaker 1: It's not right. It's certainly CBS's right as a corporation
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: to do whatever they want with that contract, and they
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: certainly are still going to pay out a lot of money.
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  Speaker 1: None of that's justifiable. I'm just saying there's a takeaway
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: here for all of us. If that guy can lose
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: a contract like that, you can imagine how lengthy that
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: is and how many lawyers went into writing that whole
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: thing and what was in that morality clause. If that guy,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: that high profile and that famous can lose that job
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: over that, anybody can. It's not only a different media
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: world these days. It's a different sports world. All right.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: We'll get into something else that I'm sure is not
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: going to be sports-related tomorrow. Who the heck knows what
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: it's going to be? We're in October. We're in fall.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Hope you're enjoying it. I hope your weather is cooling
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: off wherever you are. Not for me, because I'm in
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: South Florida. But anyways, thanks for finding me. I appreciate you.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I've got to get out of here. I'm out of material.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Thanks for finding the broadcast. X on YouTube and Facebook
• 12:36
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• 12:39
  Speaker 1: those same network channels. But more importantly, and so many
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: of you found this, I appreciate it, the audio podcast
• 12:43
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• 12:46
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• 12:49
  Speaker 1: to get your podcasts. All right. Keep that in mind.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Make it a wicked awesome Monday. Wicked awesome week. Talk
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: to you tomorrow.