Tony Romo And 5 Other Quarterbacks Who Went Straight To Broadcasting After Retiring

Tony Romo's unlikely rise from undrafted free agent to NFL superstar has transitioned to the broadcast booth.

News broke Tuesday that the long-time Dallas Cowboy quarterback was hanging up his cleats after a 15-year NFL career that was increasingly marred by injuries in recent seasons. The 36-year-old will move straight to announcing, replacing Phil Simms, another quarterback-turned-broadcaster, as Jim Nantz's partner for CBS, Sports Business Daily reported. Romo's assignment as the lead color analyst on CBS broadcasts reflects a remarkable amount of confidence in the broadcasting neophyte, but he's hardly the first quarterback to head to television. Below are a list of other quarterbacks who immediately transitioned from field to booth.

Read: Tom Brady's Rigorous Diet: $78 Meal Kit Hawked By Patriots Quarterback Promotes Veggies And No Gluten

Phil Simms

The man Romo is replacing has been a fixture on Sunday broadcasts for more than two decades. After winning two Super Bowl rings with the New York Giants, Simms went straight into broadcasting upon retiring in 1994. Simms worked for ESPN but quickly joined Dick Enberg and Paul Maguire as part of NBC's lead announcing team in 1995. In 1998, he joined CBS, where he's been part of the network's top broadcast unit, first with Greg Gumbel and then with Nantz, ever since.

But in recent years, Simms has been widely criticized for what Awful Announcing's Dan Levy called "flat, one-note, quarterback-centric commentary." Simms' performance has bordered on self-parody at times, and has given birth to internet mocking. The Twitter account @philsimmsquotes has amassed more than 40,000 followers by simply transcribing, and mocking, things Simms says during broadcasts.

Troy Aikman

The closest parallel, and best case scenario, for Romo's transition to announcing would be the career of fellow Cowboy Troy Aikman. After winning three Super Bowls with Dallas, Aikman retired after the 2001 season and joined Fox as an analyst less than a week later. In 2002, Aikman partnered with Joe Buck and Cris Collinsworth to form Fox's lead announcing team. Aikman has worked with Buck ever since, building a career that has included four Emmy nominations and five Super Bowls.

Dan Fouts

Former San Diego Chargers quarterback and MVP Dan Fouts signed a contract to broadcast games on CBS just a week after he retired in 1988, and in the nearly three decades since, Fouts has blossomed into one of the NFL's better commentators. In terms of exposure, the pinnacle of Fouts' career came when he was part of the three-man booth calling "Monday Night Football" from 1998 to 2001. In 2014, Fouts and partner Ian Eagle became the No. 2 team at CBS.

Joe Theismann

Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann's career ended in one of the most infamous plays in NFL history, when Lawrence Taylor broke his leg during a 1985 "Monday Night Football' broadcast. In spite of, or maybe because of, suffering one of the most gruesome injuries in NFL history, Theismann transitioned to a broadcasting career faster than nearly any quarterback, calling the Super Bowl with Frank Gifford and Don Meredith later that same season. He would go on to call games for another 20 years, including Monday night and Sunday night games, before he was replaced in the "Monday Night Football booth" by Ron Jaworski before the 2007 season.

Johnny Unitas

Widely considered the greatest quarterback of all-time, Unitas, who spent a majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts, joined CBS as a color analyst in 1974, just a few months after retiring.