There is still work to do in CBS’ No. 1 NFL broadcast booth.
While on the call for the Steelers-Patriots game on Sunday, NFL fans witnessed an awkward moment between Jim Nantz and JJ Watt that turned into a “Pete and Repeat” scenario.
Nantz began telling Mike McCarthy’s full circle story in coming back to Pittsburgh, his hometown, to coach the Steelers while also reuniting with Aaron Rodgers, who was his quarterback while coaching in Green Bay for 13 seasons.
“Of course the big story was Mike McCarthy getting a chance to return to the Steel City, move back basically to the same neighborhood where he was raised,” Nantz said on the CBS broadcast. “He’s about a mile from the home he was raised in, his sisters live close by, his mom and dad are also just a minute drive away. It’s just storybook for Mike.”
Watt followed up by adding some context about a previous conversation the pair had with McCarthy prior to the Week 2 matchup.
“It was truly incredible to listen to him talk about how he drives past his childhood home every day, and these are the streets every single day as a kid he grew up on,” Watt said. “He talked to us about how emotional he got after that first win, getting the game ball from Aaron Rodgers, and just how special it was.”
Yet, it appeared that Nantz did not hear what Watt said.
The veteran broadcaster went on to share the same story.
“He got the game ball too, in the locker room from Aaron Rodgers after. It was quite a moment captured,” he said.
It was only Watt’s second game alongside Nantz as he has been promoted to the top booth after Tony Romo’s OWI arrest in July. There are still some kinks to work out.
Ahead of Week 2, CBS announced its NFL broadcast teams for the next two weeks and Romo was not on the list while Watt remains alongside Nantz and Tracy Wolfson.
The former Cowboys quarterback was arrested in Wisconsin after police alleged he was driving under the influence on July 23. Soon after, the network placed Romo on leave “until further notice.”
This month, he pleaded no contest through his lawyer to the OWI charge as the other three citations — one for possessing open intoxicants in a moving vehicle, one for unsafe passing on the right and one for refusing to take test for intoxication after arrest — were dismissed as part of the agreement with prosecutors.
The network has not acknowledged when Romo could return to the booth, despite his public apology where he said he had an “over-reliance on alcohol” that developed from several back procedures he endured during his 13-year NFL career.
For Week 3, Watt, Nantz and Wolfosn will be calling the Ravens vs. Cowboys game at 4:25 p.m. ET.
