Tony Romo is not much of a Twitter user, but after receiving several screenshots of tweets after the AFC Championship Game _ many marveling at his apparent ability to predict plays _ the CBS analyst did some scrolling.
"It makes you laugh and you have fun with it, so you go check it out for 10 minutes," he said Wednesday on a call to promote CBS' coverage of Super Bowl LIII. "It felt nice that people were excited that you did a decent job."
Romo took particular note of a tweet from baseball free agent Bryce Harper, who asked Romo to tell him where he would sign. Romo, who lives in Texas, responded by predicting Harper would sign with the Rangers.
So it went for more than an hour, with Romo and his colleagues fielding more questions from reporters about Romo's work during the Patriots' victory over the Chiefs than about the Patriots' game against the Rams.
Romo said he mostly was happy that the larger CBS effort was getting recognized. One thing he would not predict is whether he would offer many predictions on Feb. 3. Such things must come naturally, he insisted.
"I probably did it a little bit more last game than I had previous ones, just because you felt like the moment is big and you just start talking in moments that are important," he said. "You don't analyze it and come up with a plan for it. Your natural instincts take over."
Romo said he tries not to predetermine his approach. "I think sometimes it just happens and once in a blue moon you might get lucky and say something right," he said.
Jim Nantz, Romo's play-by-play partner, sought to downplay the idea that Romo's is doing some sort of parlor trick. He said it is the result of hard work and experience.
"He and Tom Brady are seeing the same thing," Nantz said. "People think Tony's a fortune teller, but this isn't guess work and this isn't psychic ability. This is a testament to a guy that obviously spent a lot of time in his career figuring it out, and Tom Brady has, too.
"That's why Tony saw those same things. My partner had to have been, in his Cowboy days and remains so to this day, some sort of sick film-room guru that took the time that was needed to completely solve the puzzle. ... He's not guessing. He's not getting some sort of message from the gods. He's seeing what Brady saw."
