Tony Romo's Alcohol Level Nearly Twice Legal Limit in Wisconsin OWI Bust, He Says He Takes Full Responsibility

Tony Romo spoke publicly for the first time about his arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

He revealed that he pleaded no contest to the charge and addressed what he described as struggles with pain medication and alcohol.

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and CBS Sports analyst, 46, shared the statement on Instagram on Tuesday, September 1, weeks after his July arrest in Milwaukee.

In his Instagram post, Romo said he was confronting a personal failure. He wrote that he had pleaded no contest to a civil offense for OWI in Wisconsin and was taking full responsibility, calling accountability an important first step and the harder work of examining what led him there as the more important one. The spors star also described an over-reliance on pain medication after sustaining multiple back surgeries during his playing career.

"I own this completely," Romo wrote.

"My efforts to get off those medications led to an over-reliance on alcohol," he continued. "As I have taught my three young sons: when you fall short, you stand up and take full responsibility. That is an important first step. The harder and more important step is examining the path that brought you here and making the changes necessary to move forward."

Football shaped nearly every meaningful part of the former player's life, he wrote, and taught him to face failure head-on with honesty and resilience. He added that he was leaning on those lessons now.

Romo was candid about framing this development as a turning point in his life and thanked his family, friends, and members of the NFL community for their support.

"None of this is an excuse," he concluded. "These are my failures, and I take responsibility for them. I am working closely with a team of doctors to address my health and make the necessary changes."

Romo was arrested on July 23 in Milwaukee. According to an arrest report, a Milwaukee County sheriff's deputy stopped him at a highway interchange, and Romo performed poorly on field sobriety tests before being taken into custody. He was booked, processed, and released at the time.

The star's blood-alcohol level was nearly double the legal limit during his arrest, according to court documents.

He had a BAC of .15. The legal limit in Wisconsin is .08.

In Wisconsin, a first-offense OWI is treated as a civil violation rather than a criminal one, which is the charge to which Romo pleaded no contest. The plea resolves the legal matter.

The arrest has put Romo's broadcasting career in question. CBS Sports placed him on indefinite leave about a week after the incident, and the network elevated former NFL star J.J. Watt into his spot on its top NFL broadcast team in the interim. CBS Sports president David Berson said there's no timeline for a decision about Romo's future with the network.

Romo said he hopes to return in time. He asked for privacy as he focuses on his health and family, and said he looks forward to eventually resuming his work at CBS.

Romo spent his entire NFL career with the Cowboys from 2003 to 2016 before retiring and becoming the network's lead NFL analyst, a role praised by many for its in-depth game analysis.