Fox made a big splash when it decided to offer Tom Brady a 10-year, $375 million contract to be the network’s lead NFL analyst despite no broadcasting experience. The move was even more puzzling given that Fox had to demote an actual broadcasting star in Greg Olsen to make room for Brady.
With the seven-time Super Bowl champion slated to work Super Bowl 59 between the Chiefs and Eagles, Brady has dealt with plenty of growing pains in the booth. And it must have been frustrating for Olsen to be relegated to a regional broadcast as Brady struggled.
Though Olsen has handled the demotion with class throughout the process, he did open up in a recent interview about his broadcasting career. And for the first time, we heard the actual frustration from Olsen.
He said via Sports Illustrated:
“I’ll be honest, it’s hard sitting home on the couch watching the games. You’re sitting there and you’re living and dying with every broadcast, and you’re sitting there and you’re dissecting everything that’s said and done and, ‘What would you have said?,’ and, ‘What would you have done?’
“I’ve been very honest. My goal getting into this was to not just call regional 1 o’clock games and just be happy to be there. I’ve called the highest games, we’ve called some of the biggest games in NFL history, some of the biggest audiences in NFL history. Super Bowls, championship games, playoff games, Thanksgiving. I had the opportunity over the last couple of years to call any and all of that. To not do it anymore is hard. It’s not ideal.
“Listen, wherever it is, whatever network it’s on, whatever opportunity is there, my goal is to continue to show I’m as good, if not better than anybody in this industry and I just need a chair and an opportunity to present the game in a way that I find interesting and in a way that seems like people have connected with over the last couple of years and I’m gonna continue to work until that opportunity is just completely out the door.”
At the very least, Olsen deserved to be calling a playoff game this year. Whether it was with Fox or as a contracted agreement with a different network — particularly in the wild-card round. It’s a shame that didn’t happen.
But with Brady likely sticking with the broadcasting gig for the long haul, there’s not really a No. 1 option elsewhere for Olsen at the moment. That’s just the tough reality for an analyst who absolutely deserves to be in a marquee position.
