As one half of the Super Bowl LV announcer team (with Jim Nantz the other half), Tony Romo knows part of his job is to somehow bring even more hype to a game that’s already being talked about incessantly. During the CBS Sports Super Bowl Media Call on Thursday, Romo did a fantastic job with that.
“I think it’s a legacy game, I really do,” the former Dallas Cowboys QB said. “This could be one of the greatest match-ups in sports history, because it doesn’t happen very often. There’s no comparison that I can find.”
He is of course, referring to the signal caller matchup of Patrick Mahomes versus Tom Brady. Taking a look at the odds, Kansas City has opened as the favorite in Super Bowl 55, listed as short as -186 and as long as -175. That means the bookies believe Brady’s Bucs are the underdogs, despite their being led by a quarterback who is considered the greatest of all time.
That is understandable, considering how the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are traditionally one of the worst franchises in the NFL and Brady has a supporting cast that is quite inferior to what Mahomes has with the Chiefs. Romo went on to explain why Mahomes, who led his team to Super Bowl glory last season, and claimed the game’s MVP award last year, is so special.
“What’s important to play quarterback in the National Football League- Patrick Mahomes checks so many boxes, it’s really hard to describe to people how special this guy is,” Romo continued.
“Everyone has a weakness, and as an analyst you’re trying to find everyone’s weakness, or every team’s scheme weakness, and I feel like he is just the rare guy (who doesn’t have one).
Winning the NFL MVP award in 2018, Mahomes is considered the leading candidate to replace the guys like Brady, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning etc. as the biggest brand name player in the league.
“There’s a chance for Patrick Mahomes, when this game is all said and done, you could say that you beat him (Brady) head to head in the Super Bowl,” Romo added. “It could put him over the top.”
Of course, Brady won’t go quietly. Having won six Super Bowl rings, four Super Bowl Most Valuable Player awards and three NFL MVP awards, he won’t concede this perch without a fight. That’s what Romo means by this being a legacy game.
There is a lot on the line for the former New England Patriots QB too.
“For Brady, it shuts the door, if he wins this game, there is almost no way you could ever argue (against him being the best of all time), at 43 years old turning back father time, beating Patrick Mahomes who is the face of the NFL and rightfully so is the only guy who can climb the ladder,” Romo expounded.
“If Tom Brady closes that door, I just don’t see any human being ever competing in ten Super Bowls, winning seven and being able to say you’re better than Tom Brady, if Patrick Mahomes wins, he keeps that door open. If he loses, I don’t know how you climb that.”
So it’s really something specific to watch this Super Sunday- as both starting QBs both have a lot to prove in this one.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.