DALLAS — Former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks Tony Romo and Troy Aikman reacted to an ESPN report Friday that stated tight end Jason Witten would retire and take the network's Monday Night Football color commentary job.
"I had a pretty good idea of it," said Romo, who works on the NFL on CBS A-team with Jim Nantz and was teammates with Witten from 2003-16. "We talk all the time."
Believing the deal to be final, Aikman, who is the NFL on FOX A-team with Joe Buck, called to congratulate the Cowboys all-time leader in receptions. Instead, he gave Witten advice.
"He's presented with a heck of an opportunity," said Aikman. "Yeah, he could play another year, maybe another couple of years. But this opportunity to go into broadcasting and continue with a really great career post-career is pretty exciting. So, that's a decision that he has to make as to what's most important to him."
The conundrum is that Witten may not feel like he is done playing. However, the gig may not be ready for him when he is ready to make the jump into broadcasting.
Aikman, who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl victories in the 1990s, knew his time had come in April, 2001 when he announced his retirement. Later that fall, he joined the NFL on FOX as part of a three-man team with Dick Stockton and fellow Dallas teammate Daryl Johnston in the booth.
The Hall-of-Fame quarterback thought he would give it a couple of years before he moved on to something else in his post-retirement career. However, Aikman flourished, being promoted to the A-team in 2002. He now knows the benefits such a job affords.
Said Aikman: "I know from my own experience I was ready to retire when I did. I did give thought to coming back and playing. But I would tell you that, and I told him, that the life that broadcasting afforded me with my children to give me the opportunity to be with them during the week, and, yeah, you're gone all weekend and that's not fun, but you're there with them during the entire off-season. It's good. It's better than any job for any father. And he's a great father."
Romo knows that if Witten does take the ESPN job, he will hit the airwaves with the same excellence he brought to the gridiron week in and week out.
"Jason Witten will do good at whatever he does," said Romo. "Ultimately, whatever he puts his mind to, he's going to be good at it. Even if he didn't start out too good, he's going to be good. I actually expect him to start off really good, but it really wouldn't matter. It would only be a matter of time before he excelled at it. Like all walks of life, he'll figure it out."
If Witten were to take the job, he would be the fourth former Cowboy in television broadcasting with Romo and Aikman in the most prominent roles.
"I can see where a lot of Eagles and Giants and Redskins fans aren't thrilled by it," Aikman joked.
"Yeah, Troy started the process, so we're just following his lead," Romo said.
If Witten were to leave the Cowboys for the four-letter network, it would leave Geoff Swaim, Blake Jarwin, and Rico Gathers as the only viable tight ends on the roster. On day three of the draft, look for Dallas to address the tight end spot with their remaining seven picks, two of those picks coming in each the fourth and sixth rounds.
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