Greg Olsen called an NFC Championship Game on Sunday that featured a historic comeback and a couple of questionable coaching decisions that drew nearly 57 million viewers — making it the fourth-most watched non-Super Bowl telecast in Fox’s history.
And it was likely Olsen’s last game as the network’s lead analyst. With Tom Brady joining the network, Olsen figures to be the odd man out, despite overwhelmingly positive reviews from fans and media critics.
“That’s the way it looks, from everything we’ve been told and that’s the way it’s been trending. We’ve been planning for that for two years. We knew when we took the job that Brady was there whenever he was going to decide to come,” Olsen said Tuesday during a phone interview.
“But the one thing I will say is I’m damn proud of what we did for two years. I don’t know any crew — from (Kevin) Burkhardt to Erin (Andrews) and Tom (Rinaldi) to our producer, our whole truck — I don’t know if anyone produces a better football game than we do.”
With Troy Aikman (ESPN), Cris Collinsworth (NBC), Kirk Herbstreit (Amazon) and Tony Romo (CBS) featured as lead analysts elsewhere, there’s not a clear landing spot for Olsen. Some industry experts believe the most likely scenario is he remains at Fox as the network’s No. 2 analyst.
Olsen, the former Carolina Panthers tight end, said he planned to look at “the entire spectrum of opportunities” with Fox and other networks. But he appreciates that Fox gave him his start in broadcasting with a pair of cameo opportunities when he was still playing, and then as a full-time analyst in 2021.
“Fox (decision-makers) were the ones that believed in me from the beginning. They gave me my first opportunities to do this when I was still playing back in 2017 on a bye week,” he said. “No one was adamant about my future in this business as much as Fox was. I’ll forever be grateful for that.”
Olsen, 38, who lives in Charlotte, said his goal remains the same as when he broke into broadcasting — to call big games like Super Bowls and Sunday’s NFC title game between the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions.
“It’s hard to predict how all that plays out,” Olsen said. “But my end goal is to call premiere games at the top of the ladder and that pursuit won’t change regardless of what happens this next year with my current role.”
Brady said he plans to start his broadcasting career with Fox in the fall of 2024. His deal is reportedly a 10-year, $375 million contract to join Fox as a broadcaster.
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What’s next for Greg Olsen? Taking Fox’s No. 2 gig behind Tom Brady might be his best move
Olsen thrived in the booth
It is remarkable to think that Sunday could have been Olsen’s last game as a No. 1 analyst in the short term, but this is likely the case. He has conducted a clinic over the last two seasons when it comes to being in the shadow of Brady, the heir-in-waiting for the No. 1 analyst chair on Fox’s top NFL team. We have never seen a legit No. 1 sports broadcasting analyst work while knowing his replacement has been hired to take the job at a to-be-determined time.
In the NFL broadcasting musical chairs year of 2022, Troy Aikman left Fox to join ESPN, and longtime partner Joe Buck eventually followed. That bumped up the team of Olsen and Burkhardt after the two had found great chemistry on the No. 2 NFL team on Fox. They developed into a terrific listen, had a great Super Bowl broadcast and every week Olsen provided viewers with a unique look at the field thanks to seeing the game as a tight end and his deep preparation during the week (which Fox NFL staffers confirm).
What happens next? Fox has not offered any specifics as to what they have planned in 2024, but Brady has said repeatedly he will join the network for the 2024 season, and Fox Sports has worked under the premise that the job is Brady’s when he arrives. A Fox Sports spokesperson declined comment on Sunday on…
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