He was selected by the Bengals in the seventh round of the 1988 NFL draft after playing college football for the Union Dutchmen.
He made 85 tackles and 8.5 sacks his senior year in 1987, and was named a first-team All-American by the AP, Pizza Hut, Football News, and CoSIDA/Kodak while also being a CoSIDA District 1 Academic Team selection.
[5] He also won the William B. Jaffe Medal as Union College's "Outstanding Senior Male Athlete".
[5] Romer was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round, with the 168th overall pick, of the 1988 NFL draft.
[8][7] He became the first NFL player from his college since Fred Brumm played in one game for the Tonawanda Kardex in 1921.
[7] From 1990 to 1994, Romer served on New York governor Mario Cuomo's Youth Drug Prevention Campaign/Athletes Against Drunk Driving program.