Tony Romo leaves NFL fans stunned as he explains a little-known ball rule, with officials quickly retreiving any balls thrown into the stands to exchange them with regular balls
21:37 ET, 20 Oct 2025Updated 21:49 ET, 20 Oct 2025
Tony Romo at Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, February 11, 2024, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada
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Tony Romo explained why the NFL often gets their balls back after fans are given them(Image: Photo by Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty Images)
Tony Romo explained why the NFL quickly gets its balls back after players throw them into the stands, which was seen in the Kansas City Chiefs' matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders where Patrick Mahomes pulled off a trick play.
With 9:21 remaining in the second quarter, Mahomes targeted Chiefs star Travis Kelce in the endzone though the signal caller overthrew the balll. Cameras spotted a fan in the stands catching the errant ball, as the crowd celebrated the man's ability to catch a throw from one of the best players in the world.
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Afterward, an NFL official came up to the fan with a seemingly regular ball and the two exchanged balls. Upon seeing the replay, Romo explained why an official requested for the ball, a week after a fan at a Buffalo Bills game did the same and ran with an errant ball before returning.
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“See what they do there? See how they switched that?” Romo said during CBS Sports' broadcast of the Chiefs' and Raiders game. “The reason you give the ball back is there’s chips in those footballs … the NFL wants to keep their data to themselves and give you a ball that doesn’t have chips in it.”
Earlier in the game, Chiefs star Rashee Rice punted a ball after scoring his first touchdown of the season, which led to Romo joking about the moment. “They were not happy with that, I just got word,” the Dallas Cowboys legend explained to his partner Jim Nantz.
In response to Romo's admission, a fan wrote: "Nah. F--- that. I’m keeping the original ball." Another added: "Thank you Tony. Very important info."
After a fan was given the game ball, an official quickly switched balls, with the fan seemingly receiving a regular ball
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After a fan was given the game ball, an official quickly switched balls, with the fan seemingly receiving a regular ball(Image: X: @NFLonCBS)
That said, the NFL have had chips in their balls for almost a decade in order to track various pieces of information throughout a game. Along with chips in the balls, each player has RFID tags under in their jersey to track specific data pertinent for specific occassions.
“We’re able to track their movement from the very end of the back line to the end of the end zone," he said [h/t Distractify]. "And so every movement is picked up by our active RFID system and we’re able to then, in real time, collect that data."
What's more, the chips in the balls work in tandem with the tags on the players to paint an accurate picture of what truly happens during a game. Among the information gathered is how many revolutions a football has per minute, a player's acceleration, how quick a release is and so on.
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The NFL also is looking at different ways to make the game more streamlined, which could also help spot the football. Speaking at a Super Bowl Press conference in February 2025, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell explained the complicated process that comes with implementing new technologies while also having think about its effects.
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"Obviously you have a lot of humanity that interferes potentially with some of that, at least from a camera angle standpoint," Goodell said at the time, per CBS Sports.
"But you also have a shape of the ball that is different, and it's about where the ball is, not where the individual is necessarily. So there are a combination of factors there, but I do think that technology will exist sometime in the future. We're continuing a lot with our partners. It's how to advance that as quickly as possible so we can get to that place."
Though fans will continue to get the ball in some ways, expect NFL officials to quickly take said balls back afterward.