It all began in 2003, when Jerry Jones took a chance on an undrafted quarterback named Tony Romo. What started as a roster move soon evolved into something far deeper: a bond that often felt more like father and son than owner and player. Jones didn’t just believe in Romo; he changed the course of his career, rewarding that faith with a six-year, $67.5 million contract in 2007 that cemented him as the face of the Dallas Cowboys. In many ways, Jones helped shape the success Romo would go on to enjoy.

But now, with Romo’s OWI arrest casting a shadow over his future at CBS, the Cowboys owner has found himself speaking about the man he once proudly called a son under very different circumstances. In a new interview, he was  singing praises of the former Cowboys player.

“I love him,” said Jones on FOX. “I love what he’s about. I love his character. I love his love of sport. And he’s a very, very unique talent. And the real question is — and I don’t even have to ask what the answer is: Do you think Tony Romo knows how to get up when he gets knocked down? He had a life of that. And absolutely, that’s one of his greatest attributes: that he can handle adversity.

“And so, this is something that he will work through. He is a unique talent. His vision was just mesmerizing when he was a player. But he sees things and can articulate it so instantly. He has that skill. It’s made him a great, great portrayer of the story of football games. So, obviously, I’m a big fan of his, big fan of his family, and let me tell you right now, he’s as real as he sounds. He feels every downtime, he feels every uptime.”

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From his comments alone, it’s clear JJ loves Romo. And Jones’ fondness for Tony Romo may actually play a crucial role in saving the latter’s broadcasting career. 

Jerry Jones, as one of the owners in the NFL, carries indirect influence over network broadcasting decisions. Jerry has reshaped NFL broadcasting before. In 1993, he helped orchestrate Fox’s historic bid for NFC rights. So, broadcast networks like CBS (owned by Paramount) are ultimately beholden to NFL owners to maintain multi-billion-dollar rights deals.

On July 23, a Milwaukee County Sheriff’s deputy observed Romo’s Jeep driving erratically and making unsafe lane changes. Upon stopping him, the deputy reported that Romo had red, glassy eyes and carried a strong alcohol odor.

Then, after failing to complete Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and refusing to submit to a preliminary breathalyzer, Romo received three total citations: OWI (first offense), refusal to take an intoxication test, and unsafe passing in a gore area, and has been scheduled to appear in court on September 21.

Hence, if an influential owner pushes back on a network decision, it can alter executive strategy. And considering Jerry Jones’ bond with Tony Romo, it will be interesting to see if he intervenes on a potential contract termination decision from CBS against Romo.

What is going on with Tony Romo?

Following Romo’s arrest, CBS Sports announced that “Tony Romo is on leave from his role at CBS Sports until further notice.”

Here’s what had happened: On July 23, Romo was pulled over by officers on southbound Interstate 43 in Milwaukee at 6:18 p.m. CT. As per reports, he didn’t do well on sobriety tests and so, was taken into custody.

Shortly after the arrest, Le Batard on The Le Batard Show made some interesting observations about Tony Romo’s CBS dynamic, noting that Romo’s action can make it easy for a network already looking to get rid of someone.

“The evolution of the game changes so much that once he (Tony) lost that parlor trick, what was Tony Romo’s stock started going down with everyone, including his employers who reportedly had an intervention because they didn’t think he was working hard enough at what he was doing.

“Given that his employers had to stage what was called an intervention to get him to work harder. Now you have an incident like this that doesn’t have obviously the kind of shame that would end someone like Mark Sanchez’s career, but it has a shame involved that if you were looking to, if you were looking for a reason to get rid of somebody, this kind of publicity is reason enough.”

However, as of now, CBS has not publicly commented on the issue.