Did Tony Romo try to spin up a feel good story to get out of a ticket and avoid an arrest? It certainly seems possible.
This past Friday, a couple of hours after Romo finished competing in the 125th Wisconsin Amateur Championship (and came in 73rd place), that the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current NFL analyst for CBS was pulled over for suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
After he was stopped by the authorities, he was arrested (and later released) after he failed sobriety tests, according to Ari Meirov:
“Former Cowboys QB and CBS announcer Tony Romo was arrested overnight in Milwaukee on suspicion of operating while under the influence. Romo was pulled over yesterday around 8 pm and taken into custody after performing poorly on standard field sobriety tests. He’s due in court on Sept. 21.”
Now, thanks to body camera footage that was just released, we are getting to see just how everything played out after Romo was pulled over on a bridge on the interstate.
Things were initially cordial between Romo and the officer. He was informed that he was pulled over because of unsafe passing on the right, lane deviation, and because he passed over a gore line (the white line that separates a highway lane from an exit ramp). Tony nodded along, said he understood what he did wrong, and even asked some follow up questions.
When asked where he was headed, and where he was coming from, the former Cowboys QB told the officer he had just left the golf course, and was headed to “meet” his grandma and grandpa. Interestingly enough, his grandparents that used to reside in the state of Wisconsin (the city of Racine, to be exact) are both deceased. Romo’s grandfather actually passed away in 2020, and his grandmother passed away in 2024.
So either whatever was in his system was very potent, he was was going to “meet” them at their final resting place, or he was just trying to spin a nice little story for the officer that had pulled him over. Or he’s got another set of grandparents that the world doesn’t know much about.
Romo was eventually told that he was going to be run through some field sobriety tests. He was initially a bit confused, and even grabbed for his phone as he asked the officer:
“I’m gonna call my lawyer… if that’s okay?”
The officer made it clear that he needed to exit the vehicle immediately, and that he wouldn’t have time to make a phone call. Once he exited the vehicle, he made a remark about the officer only thinking he’s drunk because he just came from the golf course. Moments later, Romo was told that he was being detained pending an OWI investigation.
Instead of conducting the field sobriety test on the bridge, the officer told the former NFL player that they would convey him somewhere that would be an even surface with no debris, and away from traffic. The officer then told him he’d be walked into traffic to enter the patrol car, to which Romo replied:
“Seriously?”
Romo is then walked around the vehicle, and slightly into traffic, before he’s uncomfortably placed into the backseat. You can view the entirety of the body camera footage that was released below:
“Tony Romo told cops he was on his way to meet his grandma and grandpa when he was pulled over and ultimately busted for OWI … newly released body camera footage shows.”
