Tony Romo Responds To Peyton Manning’s Salty Criticism Of His Transition Into Broadcasting

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The Monday Night Football crew has put the full-court press on Peyton Manning for two years to try to recruit him to the booth. Sources believe that if The General were to ever assume the role as a broadcaster, it would be after Eli and most of his former teammates retire, as loyalty is paramount for the two-time Super Bowl champion.

Earlier this year, Peyton revealed that he spoke with the powers-that-be at MNF and said, “It wasn’t the right time this year. Maybe it will never be.”

The 43-year-old is now facing criticism for his analysis on Tony Romo’s meteoric rise into the booth. Manning used an inaccurate quote to to attempt to justify his reasoning to pass on the gig.

“I saw where Tony Romo said that he always knew that he wanted to be a broadcaster. Well, I always knew I wanted to be a football player. That’s all I knew. I was all-in on that job. I didn’t think about anything else while I was playing. And I think that’s a good way to be. I think you’ve got to be all-in on what you’re doing.”

Romo, months back was looking for a contract extension with CBS Sports that would pay him at least $10 million per year, decided not to fight fire with fire.

“I actually hadn’t heard those comments. I like to tunnel the little bubble I live in. But, ultimately, that’s something I never actually said,” Romo said. “I didn’t start thinking about being a broadcaster until I was contemplating retirement. And so at that point, then you’re going to start thinking about your next stage.

“Like anything, when you’re playing football, it’s all-consuming. Literally, nothing else [matters]. … When you go off to training camp, you don’t even know what’s happening in the world. I feel like right now it’s also still a little bit of that being a broadcaster. I love it, I enjoy it. But I think that was never a part of the mindset when you’re playing football. I mean, that would be silly to say you were thinking about something like that.

“I’m done playing, I’m in broadcasting and golf, and say, ‘Hey, if we’re going to do this, let’s not be average, let’s try and be really good at this.’ And that’s the next mindset you do. For me, it would be hard for me to sit back and say, ‘Oh, I’m pretty good.’ That’s not my mental makeup.”

A Tony Romo/Peyton Manning beef is the offseason beef I didn’t know I needed.

[h/t Total Pro Sports]

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Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.