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Rome achieved notoriety for an incident on his ESPN2 show in 1994 when he repeatedly called NFL quarterback Jim Everett "Chris" (after Chris Evert, the female tennis player), from the argument that Everett shied away from getting hit. Appearing as a guest on the show, Everett warned Rome about repeating the insult and then challenged Rome to do so. When Rome did, Everett physically attacked Rome while still on the air, overturning a table and knocking Rome to the floor. Years later, many believe the incident was actually staged[citation needed]; however, Rome has remained largely silent on the issue. He does occasionally hang up on listeners when they call a male sports figure by a female name, commenting with tongue-in-cheek that "I don't stand for that sort of thing around here."

Rome also caused controversy when, in 1997, he challenged 69-year-old ex-hockey star Gordie Howe's plans to play a shift with the IHL's Detroit Vipers, which would have given "Mr. Hockey" the claim of having played professional hockey in six decades. Rome offered a bounty of $3,000 to any player on the team playing against the Vipers to take Howe out of the game permanently. Howe and his wife threatened Rome with a lawsuit, and the bounty went away.

In November 2001, Rome engaged in a rant berrating the stereotypes of firefighters. Comedic insults included the propensity to wear ugly moustaches, and other observations. Mid-way through the take, the response from listeners was noticably negative. At the time, in the immediate wake of 9/11, civic appreciation and heroic admiration towards firefighters and other emergency responders was widespread across America. Rome aborted the take, and apologised immediately.