Two years ago, Tony Romo and Jay Cutler were both starting quarterbacks on their NFL football teams. Playing in enormous football markets—Chicago and Dallas—Romo and Cutler took the field every Sunday as heroes to their football loving cities.

Kids wore replicas of their jerseys and dreamed of one day, maybe getting the chance to be just like their idols. Though two years later after injury plagued seasons, with Cutler at just 32 years old and Romo at 37, have decided to cut short their football careers… to go into broadcasting.

Romo’s decision came as a great shock to the sporting world, as he was in the middle of negotiations with teams such as the Houston Texans, when he decided to take the CBS job of #1 Color Commentator in the booth with play-by-play star, Phil Simms.

“It was really a no brainer,” said ESPN analyst Ed Werder on Romo’s situation. It was an offer too good to refuse.

Cutler’s announcement, coming just a few weeks after Romo, was yet another big story for sports fans, as he will now also be a number 1 color commentator for FOX Sports.

Cutler however told ESPN that “retirement wasn’t really the right word…” hinting there might be a possible Jay Cutler comeback.

Though there is no doubt that both former athletes will make plenty of money and continue to acquire fame as sportscasters, the question remains, will they be able to succeed on their new career path?  NBC’s number 1 play-by-play football commentator Mike Tirico thinks so.

“They’ll both do a good job,” Tirico said “They have both played in high profile situations in big cities… and are both well spoken, and smart individuals.” However, Tirico also felt that “they would be best served by learning the fact gathering portion of the business in addition to the execution of being an analyst on TV.” He also added that “They will be known as quarterbacks on good teams that could never make a Super Bowl… so there is still something for them to play for.”

This is an idea widely embraced by many fans who feel both players abandoned a sport they still had more to give to.

However in recent years the idea of how taxing a football career is on the body has certainly been on the minds of players, as star running back Marshawn Lynch left the league last year at the age of 28 thinking of health concerns.

Multiple sources close to Romo claim that was the greatest deciding factor in the decision. In his last four seasons with Dallas, Romo only started in 16 games, his absences due to injury of his knee and collar bone.

Cutler was also injured last year, tearing his labrum in week 11, and ending his 2016-17 season two months early.

With two star quarterbacks now out of football, we all look forward to how they will perform this coming season in the booth, as well as how their former teams will fair on the gridiron without them.