As Tom Brady contemplates whether he will return for his 24th NFL season, no one seems to want the 45-year-old under center more than Fox analyst Greg Olsen.
The former star tight end has spent the past two seasons doing color commentary with Kevin Burkhardt. Olsen became the network’s No. 1 football analyst ahead of the ’22 season. However, when Fox made a 10-year, $375 million agreement with Brady last summer that he would become the network’s No. 1 analyst when he retires, it meant that the seven-time Super Bowl winner ultimately would replace Olsen in the Fox Sports hierarchy.
While Brady is currently unsure of his decision on whether to play next season, Olsen said it would be unfortunate for him if Brady retires and he loses the position. However, Olsen isn’t stressing about the matter. In a recent appearance on The Waddle and Silvy radio show on ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Tuesday, Olsen acknowledged how Brady’s decision would ultimately affect his reality in the booth. But Olsen emphasized that his main goal is to “do the best job” he can by providing a different perspective on the game.
“Listen, if [Tom] Brady ends up retiring and coming … and that’s how everything unfolds, it sucks,” Olsen said. “But at the end of the day, I’m a big boy. I know what I signed up for. I took a chance on myself. I rolled the dice. Let’s see how it plays out.”
Traina: Greg Olsen Isn’t Making Things Easy for Fox When It Comes to the Tom Brady Situation
Currently, Olsen is preparing to call Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Eagles and the 49ers with Burkhardt. Olsen also will be on the call for Super Bowl LVII to culminate the ’22 season.
As the remaining weeks draw to a close, Olsen has no plans to make it an easy decision for the network to replace him as the top analyst.
“Fine. Bench me,” Olsen recently told Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina on the SI Media podcast. “But I’m gonna make it hard as s— for you to bench me.”
Olsen also reiterated a statement from last summer, hoping Brady signs a five-year deal with some team, jokingly saying that he would give him “some cap room to make it work.” Regardless of whether Brady stays on the gridiron or leaves for the booth, Olsen will let things play out.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Olsen told Waddle and Silvy.
