Tony Romo has been away from the NFL for nearly a decade now. Still, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback knows a thing or two about stirring the pot with football fans. One such moment went viral during the 2023–24 season, when the NFL legend repeatedly referred to Taylor Swift as Travis Kelce’s “wife,” well over a year before the couple officially got engaged. Fast forward to now, and Romo has made it clear that the comment wasn’t an error at all. He did it intentionally.

“I did, kind of, play with the fans a little bit I think I was like, ‘And there’s…’ I think I said, ‘his wife,'” Romo said during his recent interview with SiriusXM’s The Morning Mash Up on Thursday. “I did that on purpose and people were like, ‘Do you know something?’ I was like, ‘Nah, I just wanted to make you guys think for a second [and] just mess with you a little bit.'”

The whole thing started shortly after Swift and Kelce made their relationship public during the 2023 season. Romo, however, took it a step further when he referred to Swift as Kelce’s wife multiple times on air. The first instance came during the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Buffalo Bills on December 10, 2023. And before fans could chalk it up as a one-off mistake, Romo doubled down a week later.

During Kansas City’s matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders, Romo once again said, “As you see, Kelce’s wife, Taylor Swift, in the audience.” Only this time, he quickly caught his mistake and corrected himself, noting, “Er, I’m sorry. Girlfriend!” And like many watching at home, Romo’s broadcast partner Jim Nantz couldn’t help but ask whether Romo knew “something we don’t know.”

Now that Romo has come clean, it’s clear there was no inside information. But just a former quarterback having a little fun with the audience. And the timing makes it even more interesting. Romo addressed the moment just months after Kelce and Swift announced their engagement on August 25, 2025, via a shared Instagram post.

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨,” the caption read.

So while Romo has finally owned up to the on-air mischief, the former NFL quarterback has also recently shifted focus. The 45-year-old has shared a health update of his own in the weeks since.

Tony Romo addressed his back injuries

Even though Tony Romo has been away from football for years and now works as a CBS analyst, the physical toll from his playing days hasn’t gone away. The former Cowboys quarterback recently opened up about that reality during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. In his conversation, he explained how he still manages chronic back issues on a daily basis.

“Oh, it’s chronic. I mean, I’ve had two back surgeries,” Romo said. “Every day, my wife and the kids know it’s like, all right, just give me 34 minutes while I do some glute exercise and some core work, and I should be ready to go.”

Those issues trace back to his final years in Dallas. Romo underwent two back surgeries during his playing career, both in 2013. The first came in April, when he had a cyst removed from his spine. While it was initially described as a minor procedure, it sidelined him for the entire offseason, forcing him to miss OTAs and training camp. He still opened the 2013 season as the starter, but things quickly worsened.

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Later that year, Romo went down with severe back pain during a game against Washington. Further reports diagnosed the complication as a season-ending herniated disc. That injury required a second back surgery in December, effectively shutting him down for the year. Even after that, the damage lingered. On paper, the following season was one of the best of Romo’s career. He led Dallas to a 12–3 record in the 2014 season.

But even then, his body didn’t cooperate. During another matchup against Washington, Romo fractured two transverse processes in his back, another reminder of how fragile things had become. Now, more than a decade removed from those surgeries, the effects are still part of Romo’s daily life. The difference is that he no longer has to push through it on Sundays. At 45, he’s removed from the grind of the NFL, managing his health on his own terms while continuing his career from the broadcast booth.