It’s the worst week of the sports year as we deal with annoying Super Bowl hype while waiting two weeks for the final game of the season to be played.
So what better time to answer your questions and get in a mailbag edition of Traina Thought than now!
Here we go.
How much longer do you expect Nantz and Romo to be a ream?
— Neil schoolnik (@Neilschoolnik) January 28, 2025
Tony Romo signed a 10-year deal with CBS in 2020, so he’ll be calling games with Jim Nantz at least through 2030. Who knows what will happen after that. Romo makes a lot of money, so if CBS ends up making a change down the road, it will be a cost-cutting measure more than a decision based on Romo’s ability as an analyst.
Social media reaction to Romo is different than CBS’s reaction to Romo. In my opinion, Romo had a very good year behind the mic and was a better listen thanks to toning things down a bit.
Was Tony Romo saying "He's gonna have time here" followed by Josh Allen immediately having 3 guys in his face as funny to you as it was to me and my friends?
— Eric Gatter (@UnmitigatedNHTV) January 28, 2025
Here’s the play Eric is referring to in his question:
This new angle of Dalton Kincaid's brutal game-losing drop is way worse than it looked live...
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 27, 2025
Also what the hell was O'Cyrus Torrence (#64) doing??
😬😬😬 https://t.co/HjOPuHa4vh pic.twitter.com/EszSWGWbON
While Romo clearly got his prediction wrong, it’s not his fault that Buffalo offensive lineman O’Cyrus Torrence (No. 64) decided not to participate in the play.
Now there are so many media partners (including the streamers), can you see any scenario where the NFL agrees to a Tuesday night package of games with say a Netflix? I know it’s radical, but the NFL wants as many partners as possible, & is running out of schedule space.
— ESLRUSH (@sportsblog2) January 28, 2025
When it comes to the NFL going after a money grab, nothing would surprise me, but I would be shocked if the league created a Tuesday package. The logistics just don’t seem feasible. As I’ve said on recent episodes of SI Media With Jimmy Traina, I fully expect Netflix (or another streamer) to get a Sunday package of games sooner rather than later. I went in-depth on this topic with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch a couple of weeks ago.
How is it possible that Brady is allowed to continue announcing next season? I don’t understand how someone who has a vested interest in a team can be allowed to call games. Can you please explain?
— Ruf Houz (@RufHouza) January 28, 2025
It’s possible because it’s not a big deal at all. This is a football game. It’s not something important. Viewers will be able to survive Brady’s conflict of interest in calling a Raiders game.
We all know Brady has a 5% stake in the Raiders. We all know Brady will be pulling for the Raiders if he calls one of their games. We all know Brady won’t be objective. I think that adds an element of intrigue to the broadcast.
I actually look forward to Brady calling a Raiders game just to observe how critical he’ll be and to hear how frustrated or happy he’d be depending on what’s going on in the game.
Do you see a day when Mina Kimes enters the booth? She already does Rams preseason games with Siciliano and Whitworth.
— Michael Silvers (@msilvers1979) January 29, 2025
I don’t think we’re ever going to see someone who isn’t a former player in the booth as an analyst for regular season games. It’s way too radical for networks.
Who should replace James Brown on the NFL Today when he retires:
— Jake Miller (@mil6807824) January 29, 2025
A) Laura Rutledge
B) Nate Burleson
C) Mike Hill
D) Adam Lefkoe
E) Other
Whenever James Brown decides to leave CBS’s NFL Today, I would fully expect Nate Burleson will take over the role as host.
And thank you for this question, because it gives me a change to plug Brown’s appearance on SI Media With Jimmy Traina back in October. If you haven’t listened to it, you should.
Is there a double standard letting Stephen A. Smith talking politics on Hannity, Bill Maher, etc when other ESPN hosts were previously shut down for it?
— Chris L (@FloridaManSEO) January 28, 2025
It’s funny how people look at situations in different ways. You say double standard (which it is), but I say it’s The Jordan Rules.
Different people can do different things or get away with things that others can’t at pretty much every sports media company.
what was the best bet/worst bet you've made on football?
— Amy Chapman (@amyrchapman) January 28, 2025
The best bet I’ve ever made was in Super Bowl LII between the Eagles and Patriots. “Will any kick hit an upright,” was offered a prop and I bet yes. I’ll never be able to properly explain the joy and euphoria that this brought me:
As for the worst bet, every single week there are horrible losses, so it’s impossible to pick one. They all just mesh together and are one big fog in my brain. I’ve lost a baseball bet on a passed ball. I’ve lost basketball bets on buzzer beaters. I remember getting a push on a Pac-12 college football game where the total was 48 and the halftime score was 45–3. I’ve lost multiple bets on a quarterback’s over in rushing yards because he took three kneel downs at the end of the game.
What sports media personality, show, or network would you like to see a documentary on?
— TJ (@TJRamsey44) January 28, 2025
Great question. I’m so old that I’d like to see a documentary on The National Sports Daily newspaper that lasted from 1990 to ’91.
I’d love to see a documentary on the night Elin Woods found the salacious texts from Tiger Woods’s mistress while he was passed out from Ambien and then attacked him with a golf club before he tried to drive off and hit a fire hydrant.
I’d also like to see a documentary on Bill Simmons. I’ve said many times that Simmons started the entire “mix in pop culture with sports” thing that we all do now, and he’s has a fascinating career, starting with being the Boston Sports Guy, then going to ESPN, creating Grantland, falling out with ESPN and creating The Ringer.
As you raised back in October: do you think MLB will either do something to get the ALDS and ALCS off FS1 and onto Big Fox, or get the FS1 broadcasts into some unbundled streaming option, this year?
— Fiddle Elphier (@FiddleElphier) January 28, 2025
I heard an interview that Rob Manfred did with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on SiriusXM during the World Series and he told Russo that he wasn’t thrilled with MLB postseason games being relegated to FS1. However, there’s not much Manfred can do because Fox has a contract that allows it to stick the games on FS1. It would be nice if Fox cared about the fact that it would be better for baseball if playoff games were on regular Fox, but Fox only cares about forcing people to watch FS1.
How would you decide who wins this year's Royal Rumble? Feels like every participant has a major storyline depending on the win. Also, will Jacob Fatu's rocket ship to the top ever slow down?
— Aaron Zane (@Aaron_Zane) January 28, 2025
Last year, the WWE had a sure thing with the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania because everyone wanted to see Cody Rhodes finish his story. They almost screwed that up thanks to The Rock, but it all worked out in the end.
This year, you can easily see three or four guys winning the Rumble, which certainly makes it intriguing. You can make the argument for Roman Reigns, John Cena and CM Punk.
I don’t know how the Rock figures into thing this year, but I would guess Roman wins the Rumble and we get Roman-Cody Part 3 at WrestleMania.
How will Mike Tirico navigate the travel between Milano Cortina for the Winter Olympics and Santa Clara for the Super Bowl in 2026? What are the odds @MadDogUnleashed has a breakdown of it?
— AEM2022 (@AEM20221) January 29, 2025
I don’t know anything about Tirico’s travel plans, but I do know Mad Dog will cover it in detail on his radio show.
What is on your “to do” list on Super Bowl Sunday? When do you make your bets? When do you tune in to pregame coverage? Do you feel lost between the hours of 1-6pm?
— Patrick Webb (@webb_02) January 28, 2025
Super Bowl Sunday is one of the weirdest days of the year. It’s not really a football day. It’s an event day. It’s also not for real football fans. It’s for the fringe fan. So the entire day up until kickoff just has a bizarre feel.
I will spend time Friday and Saturday going through the million prop bets offered on the game and figuring out what I’m gonna bet. I usually make about seven to 10 plays on Super Bowl Sunday. Will come up with the list on Saturday and then place the bets on Sunday morning. I don’t like to wait until close to game time because I always fear the app is going to go down with all the extra traffic.
I’ll definitely go out to breakfast on Sunday and see some friends and family during the afternoon. I guess I’m supposed to say I’ll watch some of the pregame show because I cover media, but if you want the truth, I will try to watch as little of the pregame show as possible. I’ll probably put Fox on around 5:30 p.m.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as All-Traina Thoughts Mailbag: Tony Romo, Tom Brady, Super Bowl Sunday and More.
