ATLANTA — CBS Sports sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson didn’t realize just how big analyst Tony Romo became during the AFC Championship Game.
Romo set social media on fire when he correctly called out plays for the New England Patriots against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Wolfson had an idea what was going on from her spot on the sidelines. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was so good that play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz called his colleague "Romostradamus" on-air for Romo’s ability to make correct predictions.
But it wasn’t until Wolfson and her CBS Sports colleagues adjourned to the hotel and got together hours after the game did the enormity of the situation finally sank in.
"We were all getting the alert on our phones, watching Twitter blow up," Wolfson told NFL.com following a Tuesday CBS media event. "We knew it when it was happening how special it was, but when everyone else in the world starts talking about it and it takes on a whole larger than life story, that’s when we all kind of knew. It just continued and it hasn’t stopped — that’s what is amazing about it for two weeks."
For his part, Romo used humor to downplay what happened almost two weeks ago when asked by numerous reporters for predictions, including the final score, in Sunday’s game between the Patriots and Los Angeles Rams — the first Super Bowl that he will call as a broadcaster.
"Tom Brady is going to throw the ball on one of the early third downs," Romo quipped in response to what the Patriots‘ offense would do against the Rams.
What about The Weather Channel? Would Romo make a move if he can properly predict the elements?
"I hear they pay more, so I’ll consider it," Romo said.
The layer of jokes aside, James Brown, who hosts The NFL Today pregame show on CBS, said he is not surprised at Romo’s ability to express what is happening on the field to viewers.
"He is indicative of what most people would want to see in an analyst," Brown told NFL.com. "He’s passionate, loves the game, studied the game and to the degree that he can articulate the game with the enthusiasm that he has that’s infectious, and that’s what caught people."
Brown said it is also very easy to see that Romo does his homework well ahead of games, even going to far as to compare Romo’s preparation to Hall of Famer Ray Lewis’ ability to break down film and discover clues and tip offs on opponents.
"Defensive coordinators are nothing more than like great military strategists in trying to figure out what the opposition is going to do," Brown said. "Tony Romo did that in space because a quarterback is supposed to be the hardest worker on the team. He is the coach on the field, so Tony Romo is sharing with you every Sunday what his role was all the years he was a quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys."
Wolfson echoed Brown, adding Romo’s intelligence shines through when he observes the action on the field from the booth.
"The way he sees the field, he did that as a quarterback," Wolfson said. "He studied a lot; he watched a lot of film.
"He picks a lot of defensive coordinators’ brains. You would think he’s going to the offensive coordinators perspective, right? He cares about offense because he’s a quarterback, but actually he cares more about the defense. He can really see the field so well."
Will Romo repeat the magic of making correct pre-snap calls on Super Sunday? That remains to be seen, but there"s little doubt he will be more than prepared to give an A-plus effort given what his colleague know of him.