After dealing with multiple clavicle fractures and two back surgeries that subsequently ended his 14-year NFL career, Tony Romo does his best to keep his health in line.
“It’s different than football,” the CBS football analyst says of his current workout regimen while sitting down alongside his father, Ramiro, and raising awareness for prostate cancer with Bayer’s Highlight’s Real campaign. “Football is about strength, explosiveness. Now, it’s more about being flexible. I was trying that then, but it’s more about that now after the back surgery. It’s more about keeping myself aligned and in a position to be healthy.”
The four-time Pro Bowl Quarterback’s routine isn’t quite what it was during his playing days, but thanks to his kids, he’s remained pretty conditioned.
“There’s multiple gyms now,” Tony shares. “Not just going to the weight room, but also the actual gym, because my boys love basketball. And then the field, but I’m always doing something and being active. There’s no question about that. I think that literally is part of just what I hope to do the rest of my life because I’ve always enjoyed that.”
The Romo family learned first hand how important health is when they least expected it.
In Oct. 2007 after watching his son take on the Chicago Bears, Ramiro was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Alongside his siblings, Romo quickly slipped into taking care of his dad whenever he wasn’t on the field.
“I would say it was more wanting to be a caregiver [and] a resource to help Dad,” Romo says. “And just be there for him, because your father in some ways is like Superman, and you don’t think they’re ever gonna go through something like that. He’s immortal in some ways, and he just became mortal where it’s like, ‘Oh, you could lose your father possibly.’ That was obviously a tough phase, but it’s my job to be there for him and help support him in any way I could. My sisters, my mom, extended family, the doctors and the caregivers were just unbelievable in this process, and I think that’s one of the biggest things is those people are as important as anything that you could possibly say.”
The grueling experience was a wake-up call to the always active father-son duo who do their best to be proactive about their overall health.
“I think honestly, it’s just like anything we’ve learned throughout our lives,” Tony says. “My dad is incredibly active at his age and I’m so impressed. Any parent, what you do, sometimes you teach your child. You tell them, you do it over and over again, and other times they learn through osmosis by watching, and so just watching my dad and seeing how active he is and how committed he is to working out, being in shape, eating healthy, doing all the right things is just one of those things. It’s another learning lesson for all of us and my grandkids and everyone. And so I think that’s part of our daily routine. It’s just how we grew up and sometimes it’s just the environment you’re in.”
Romo’s father’s cancer journey is behind him, and he’s thankful for his good health, including his reduced stress levels now that his son has retired from the contact sport and is only seen on the field when he’s commentating.
“One hundred percent!” Ramiro says. “I’m not worried about him getting tackled in his back or something, or breaking another disc or again. It’s way better.”
Although the 2025-2026 NFL season is about to come to a close with this Sunday’s Super Bowl, fans of the Romos can still get their fix by joining them online and coming up with a game plan to stay on top of their own health.
“It helped me appreciate the small, meaningful moments that I get to share with him,” Tony says of the campaign which also has him commentating alongside his father. “It makes you think about life a little differently, maybe things you weren’t thinking about before.”