Ross Tucker’s fall wasn’t spent in one studio. It was airports, stadiums and another football town every few days. In 2023, Princeton Alumni Weekly described a schedule that took him from Philadelphia to Foxborough, Buffalo, Las Vegas, Tuscaloosa and West Point, with plenty more stops before the season was even halfway done. That was the life of someone who had spent years building a broadcasting career one assignment at a time.

He had gone from a seven-year NFL career across five teams, the Commanders, Cowboys, Bills, Browns and Patriots, to Sports Illustrated, SiriusXM, podcasts, Westwood One and CBS, without ever being the obvious superstar former player destined for a prime booth. CBS’ own bio says he joined the network in 2018 as a CBS Sports Network college football analyst and has covered Army football since 2019, later expanding into NFL work. Now, that long climb has produced his biggest CBS opportunity yet.

CBS announced Tucker will join Ian Eagle and Evan Washburn in the network’s No. 2 NFL booth this season, following J.J. Watt’s move to the top team with Jim Nantz and Tracy Wolfson. Watt, who had been working with Eagle, is stepping in for Tony Romo while the longtime lead analyst remains on indefinite leave. It is a notable jump for Tucker, who worked lower on CBS’ NFL lineup and called select games with Tom McCarthy last season.

So far, he has called college and professional football for the network, but this promotion puts him much closer to the center of its NFL coverage. And the move is not completely new territory for Tucker. He and Eagle have already called at least 20 games together for Westwood One, giving the pair a working rhythm before they take that chemistry to CBS.

Tucker has already seen what that chemistry can produce. During a 2024 Westwood One broadcast of Eagles-Commanders on Thursday Night Football, he reacted to a play by Philadelphia defender Zack Baun by saying, “Baun. Zack Baun.” Eagle immediately followed with, “Shaken and stirred.” Tucker later admitted he wasn’t expecting the quick follow-up. “He’s just so good,” Tucker said.

Since retiring in 2008, Tucker has built one of the more unusual second careers in football media. He’s spent years as a SiriusXM NFL Radio host, including a run hosting “The Morning Kickoff with Ross Tucker” from 2010 to 2019, while also calling college football for CBS Sports Network and serving as a broadcaster for the Philadelphia Eagles and Westwood One. He also co-founded RT Media and built a podcast network around his football coverage.

His route into broadcasting began before his playing career was even officially over. While on injured reserve in Washington in 2007, Tucker started calling Princeton football games on radio and began writing for what was then Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback. Veteran NFL writer Peter King encouraged him to lean on what he had seen from inside NFL locker rooms. Tucker had played for coaches including Bill Belichick, Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer and Steve Spurrier and had snapped the ball to Tom Brady, experiences that gave him a different way into football analysis.

But his NFL résumé was never the only thing carrying him. After CBS Sports Network brought him aboard in 2018, Tucker kept stacking up reps across radio, podcasts, college football and NFL broadcasts. Princeton Alumni Weekly noted that he sometimes called two games in a weekend when the logistics allowed it, a volume that Tucker credited with making him comfortable in the booth. “It was just the reps, the volume,” he said. “You get so comfortable when you do that many games.”

There is also some familiarity between Tucker and Eagle. Beyond the 20-plus Westwood One games they’ve shared, Tucker has developed a reputation for preparation that fits well with Eagle’s quick style. “There’s a real comfort level and familiarity there,” Tucker said. “And he has the quickest wit of almost anybody I’ve ever been around.”

That preparation is visible long before he puts on a headset. During the Army-Boston College assignment profiled by Princeton Alumni Weekly, Tucker watched film on Monday and Tuesday, interviewed Boston College coaches Wednesday, worked a Thursday night NFL radio broadcast, drove overnight, met with Army coaches and players Friday, then reviewed and added to his notes again Saturday morning before kickoff. Even after all that, he was on the field in the rain 90 minutes before the game looking for last-minute information.

The same game also produced a very Tucker moment. During the broadcast, the table holding his monitors and telestrator suddenly collapsed, sending equipment and papers to the floor. Tucker and play-by-play partner Chris Lewis stayed on camera, adjusted and continued the broadcast. It was the kind of live-TV problem that could derail a less experienced crew, but Tucker had enough reps to keep moving.

That long accumulation of work has now reached another milestone. Tucker was part of Westwood One’s broadcast team for Super Bowl LIX in 2025, and he also appeared in the network’s Super Bowl LX pregame coverage this year.

For Tucker, though, the latest jump comes with an obvious caveat. It is currently a Week 1 arrangement, not a declaration that he has permanently inherited the No. 2 chair. When asked about the uncertainty surrounding Romo, Tucker put it simply: “I don’t think they have a timeline on anything. It sounds like we’re taking it one week at a time.”

CBS still undecided on Tony Romo

That opening became available because Tony Romo is currently away from CBS. The former Cowboys quarterback was placed on indefinite leave after his July 23 arrest in Wisconsin on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the influence. According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, Romo was stopped while driving south on Interstate 43 and performed poorly on field sobriety tests. He was booked and released, and his next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 21.

CBS has not said how long that absence will last. At the network’s NFL media event Tuesday, CBS Sports president David Berson said the situation remains under assessment and that there is “no timetable or final decision” on Romo’s future.

“It’s an evolving situation, and therefore we’re still assessing,” Berson said. “There is no timetable or final decision at this time.”

Berson also made clear that the network considered the effect of the situation on CBS itself when deciding how to handle the broadcast booth. “We have to consider the impact on our image and our brand,” he said. “The focus should be and needs to be on our presentation and this great product and not on any others.”

Romo’s absence is significant because he has been CBS’ lead NFL game analyst alongside Nantz since 2017. He signed a 10-year, $180 million contract with CBS in 2020, with four years and $72 million reportedly remaining.

For now, CBS is dealing with the uncertainty by leaning on the depth of its broadcast roster. Watt will make his first game with Nantz and Wolfson on Sept. 13, when the Minnesota Vikings host the Green Bay Packers. Tucker, meanwhile, gets his chance alongside Eagle in the booth immediately below them.

Whether that becomes a temporary promotion or the start of something longer will depend in part on what CBS ultimately decides about Romo. For Tucker, there is little reason to look that far ahead yet. The next assignment is already waiting.