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Dale Earnhardt Jr. hoping he can be 'half as good' as Tony Romo in booth
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been paying close attention to another star’s transition from participating in a sport to broadcasting it.
After he retires at the conclusion of the 2017 season, Junior is moving to the announcing booth for NBC Sports. He said Friday at Talladega that he’s been watching CBS NFL announcer Tony Romo, who retired and was immediately placed into the network’s No. 1 announcing pairing with Jim Nantz.
Romo has gotten rave reviews for his ability to predict plays before they happen and dissect and simplify coverages and plays better than any other NFL analyst.
“I’ve been watching Tony Romo and if I’m half as good as he is, I’ll be happy,” Junior said. “That guy is just awesome. And he’s doing such a great job. And he sounds like he’s sitting right there next to you on the couch just talking about the game like a best friend. It’s easy to listen to. And he does such a good job with it. He doesn’t try to be anything he’s not. And hopefully if I can maintain that, and certainly, I’ll get better with more reps, just like anything else. The more you do it, the more confidence you get in yourself. I think the main thing for me is just building confidence. And that’s going to start with me being prepared and working the initial six months of the season the first of next year to try to be as prepared as I can. But, I think they hired me to be myself. I’ll try to get in there and keep that going.”
Sunday is Earnhardt Jr.’s final race at Talladega, a track where he’s won six times, including four-straight races from 2001-03. His significance is so much in Alabama that the state’s governor declared Sunday to be “Dale Earnhardt Jr. Day.”
Junior’s reference of Romo came when he was asked about how opinionated he thinks he’ll be in the booth next season. Junior has been candid over the past two years and seems to have a newfound freedom to say what’s on his mind in a thoughtful way. If even 75 percent of the candid Junior that’s emerged lately crosses over into the broadcast booth he should be a good addition to NBC’s coverage.
“To be able to understand what is going on in the sport, and to know what you need to know and have as much information and knowledge about what’s happening down in the garage, you’ve got to have great connections with all those drivers and crew chief and so forth,” Junior said. “And, I’ve had conversations with some of the broadcasters, and you have to be careful about how you speak about individuals because they take that stuff personally.
“Me, being a driver, I’m the same way. And you need that connection and be able to have that instant communication and they can shut that off if they don’t want to deal with you. So, I think being honest is great, but there is such a thing as being too critical and I think I’ll have to learn what that is. I won’t be perfect right out of the gate and I won’t get it right every time.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
