CBS Sports placed lead NFL analyst Tony Romo on indefinite leave after his arrest on a drunk-driving charge in Milwaukee, a roadside stop that ended with an open bottle on his passenger seat and a refusal to take a chemical test.
Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office deputies pulled Romo over on Interstate 43 during rush-hour traffic on Thursday, July 23, after they say the 46-year-old former Dallas Cowboys quarterback used a highway shoulder lane to pass other vehicles. A deputy reported that Romo had "red glassy eyes" and an "odor of an intoxicating alcoholic beverage," CBS News Texas reported. Romo initially told the deputy he had not been drinking, then changed course and acknowledged at least one beverage.
He performed poorly on a field sobriety test, was arrested, and was charged with operating while intoxicated, Wisconsin's version of a DUI. The network announced his leave roughly one week later, on a Friday, saying only that "Tony Romo is on leave from his role at CBS Sports until further notice." Neither Romo nor his attorney has commented publicly on the case.
Body camera video released by the sheriff's office added details the bare arrest report left out. The footage shows Romo leaning against a patrol car and stretching before the sobriety tests began. Fox News reported that Romo told officers, "Sorry, two back surgeries, I need to stand here," before limbering up, a scene that drew comparisons online to an NFL scouting combine workout.
After completing the tests, Romo appeared to sense the outcome.
"Did I pass this test? No I didn't, huh?"
He had not. Deputies arrested him and transported him to a station, where he refused to submit to any chemical intoxication test, according to the arrest record.
Officers who searched his Jeep before towing it found an open bottle of an alcoholic beverage on the passenger seat. Breitbart reported that small alcohol containers described as "shooters" were also found during the vehicle inventory. The police report stated that Romo drove "in the marked right distress lane to pass vehicles in lanes 1 and 2 during rush hour traffic" and then veered across lanes before the stop.
Romo was issued three separate citations: $267 for possession of open intoxicants in a vehicle, $235 for unsafe passing on the right, and $1,066 for operating while under the influence. Under Wisconsin law, a first-offense OWI is typically treated as a civil matter, not a criminal charge, carrying a fine in the range of $150 to $300, though the total financial hit from all three citations runs well above that floor. The charge does not carry jail time for a first offense. Just The News noted that Romo was in the Milwaukee area for the Wisconsin State Amateur golf tournament. He is a native of Burlington, Wisconsin, a small city roughly 30 miles southwest of Milwaukee.
Earlier that same Thursday, Romo had spoken to a local television station about his passion for competitive golf.
"I'm competitive in both [golf and football], I'm just better at football. It's the challenge of it. It's as tough as you're gonna play."
Hours later, deputies stopped him on I-43 at around 8 p.m., the New York Post reported. He was booked and released that night.
CBS Sports moved quickly to fill the gap. Three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt, who joined the network last summer, will replace Romo in the broadcast booth. The network did not say whether the swap is temporary or permanent, and it has not disclosed whether Romo's leave is paid or unpaid.
The Associated Press confirmed the basic outline: Romo was stopped on Interstate 43, failed field sobriety tests, was booked and released, and faces a court appearance on September 21 at 8:30 a.m. No blood-alcohol content has been made public, and because Romo refused a chemical test, one may never surface in the case file.
Several questions remain unanswered. CBS has not said whether the arrest will trigger any formal disciplinary action beyond the leave itself. Breitbart reported that the network decided not to fire or formally punish Romo over the incident, though the open-ended "until further notice" language leaves the door open in either direction. Romo's legal team has stayed silent.
Wisconsin treats a first OWI more leniently than most states. It is a civil violation, not a criminal one, and the statutory fine range starts at $150. Romo's total citations add up to roughly $1,568, pocket change for a broadcaster who signed a reported nine-figure contract extension with CBS in 2020. The legal consequences, in other words, are modest.
But the professional fallout is harder to calculate. Romo spent 14 seasons as the Cowboys' starting quarterback before retiring in 2017 and stepping into the top NFL analyst chair at CBS. At 46, he sat at the peak of sports broadcasting. Now he sits on the sideline, replaced by a younger face, waiting on a September court date and a network decision that could reshape the rest of his career.
When a public figure tells a deputy he hasn't been drinking, then admits he has, then refuses the test that would settle the matter, the facts speak clearly enough on their own.
