Highlights After a long, successful NFL career, Greg Olsen transitioned to the broadcast booth in 2021.
Olsen’s experience and knowledge made him an excellent color commentator, alongside Kevin Burkhardt.
With Tom Brady joining the network for the 2024 season, Olsen is being bumped down to the second team, where he’ll be calling games alongside Joe Davis.
Greg Olsen was drafted by the Chicago Bears at the end of the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Olsen would go on to spend his first four years in Chicago, before leaving for the Carolina Panthers before the 2011 season. Once in Carolina, Olsen turned into a star.
He didn’t hit his peak until he was near the age of 30, but from 2014 to 2016, he put up three consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards, while becoming one of the best tight ends in the NFL.
After a year with the Seattle Seahawks, Olsen decided to retire after the 2020 season, his 14th year in the league. His unemployment didn’t last long, though, as Olsen soon signed with Fox Sports as a color commentator in 2021, and quickly became a fan favorite with his analysis from the booth.
Olsen was originally on Fox’s No. 1 broadcast team, but he’ll now be replaced by Tom Brady, who will take on Olsen’s previous role with Fox. As a result, Olsen is getting bumped down to the second team, and it was announced now that he’ll get to commentate alongside Joe Davis for the 2024 season.
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Olsen Has Been Excellent as a Broadcaster, But Will Take a Demotion in 2024
Despite Olsen’s impressive start to his television career, it’s hard to beat out Tom Brady
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
In his first year with Fox Sports, Olsen was paired with Kevin Burkhardt. At that time, the two were the No. 2 team, with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the No. 1 team. However, just before the 2022 season, both Buck and Aikman ended up leaving Fox Sports to join ESPN and call Monday Night Football.
Fox knew they needed a new pair to take over the No. 1 spot. Olsen and Burkhardt were impressive alongside each other during their first year together, and earned a lot of praise from NFL fans.
As a result of that, both Olsen and Burkhardt were moved up to the No. 1 team, and they kept that role for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. They continued to work well with each other, and the pair even called Super Bowl 57, in which the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles.
However, change is on the horizon. After debating between retiring and un-retiring for a year or two, the legendary quarterback decided he wanted his next role to be broadcasting. That decision paid off in a big way, as Brady is set to earn $375 million over 10 years with the company. Brady will end up replacing Olsen on the first team, and he’ll work alongside Olsen’s former partner, Burkardt.
GIVEMESPORT Key Stat: During his 23-year career in the NFL, Tom Brady earned about $512 million. He’ll make $375 million calling games for Fox. For reference, during his 10-year contract with Fox, Brady will earn 73.2% of his career earnings as a player.
Former players often make good commentators because they have the experience that most fans lack, which is playing the sport at a high level. Olsen’s extensive knowledge of the game helped him on the field, and in the booth as well.
With Brady being arguably the best quarterback of all time, you can see why Fox backed up the brinks truck for him. It’s unfortunate for Olsen, who has really done a great job since transitioning to his new role. He’ll still be calling games in 2024, though, and there’s no reason to believe his broadcasting career will end anytime soon.
Olsen and Davis have worked together before. During the past two seasons, Burkhardt has had to leave Olsen’s side to be Fox’s World Series play-by-play announcer. While that happened, Davis and Olsen called games together. It’s good that they’re already familiar with each other, because they’ll be spending a lot of time together during the 2024 season.
Source: NBC
All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.