Sometimes, some things need to be said. I’ve tried not to say this one, but given the speculation that Jim Nantz had a say in the Romo-for-Simms swap (and surely Nantz didn’t object or it wouldn’t have happened) it makes sense to ponder the potential impact of one specific moment from the wild-card playoff game between the Dolphins and Steelers.
The video says it all, even though it’s never said what actually happened. Whatever term you choose (and there are several), let’s just say Simms apparently exposed Nantz to a certain specific type of noxious gas that is sufficiently lighter than air to travel from, somewhere above the knees and directly to the nose.
Watch closely. There’s a not-so-subtle hand-wafting by Simms. Of the air. On the air.
And the look on Nantz’s face, just before he walks out of one of the few in-game shots of the guys in the broadcast booth, says plenty about what he thinks of what Simms has just done.
“My man Phil playing hurt today,” Nantz eventually says.
While it’s unlikely that this specific moment prompted Nantz to decide he wants a new partner, it’s safe to say that Nantz was not waxing nostalgic about the time Simms was breaking something other than news when the time came to use the thumb that was at one point pinching his nose to give approval to the decision to make a change.
So as Tony Romo begins to learn the things he needs to do while sharing a confined space with Jim Nantz, there’s one thing Romo can put at the top of the list of things to never do.
