His style is unique, he sometimes looks disheveled, unshaven and scruffy. But Greg Olsen could probably care less, because he’s ascended to the top of his field at Fox. The former NFL Tight End, is spending his first season in the #1 booth with Kevin Burkhardt. While he may indeed look like Dexter’s older brother (Showtime’s drama about a serial killer), Olsen is killing it with his on-the-spot analysis. Sorry, had to go there.
Growing up in New Jersey, he never really thought about the guys calling the games. On the Dave Pasch Podcast earlier this year, Olsen explained his perspective as a kid.
“Until I started doing it, I don’t even really know if I ever paid attention to broadcasters,” he told Pasch. “You know, I knew who Monday Night Football announcers were as a kid. Dan Dierdorf and Frank Gifford and Al Michaels. You remember listening to games with John Madden. I remember them, I can’t say I ever tuned into a game wondering ‘Hey I wonder who is calling the game?’ It was always kind of secondary to me.”
That all changed when he started to get more serious about life after football.
“It really wasn’t until later into my career and I’d been on that other side of the camera and sat in those booths and called it, where I would watch games and almost watch it more to hear what they were saying and more to see the replay sequence and more to see how the analyst used the telestrator and what points he made. And what I found interesting and what I found boring.”
NFL CAREER
Olsen was selected by the Chicago Bears with the 31st overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami. He spent four seasons with the Bears before being traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2011. As a Bears’ fan, I still don’t understand that deal.
Anyway, he remained with the Panthers through the conclusion of the 2019 season, and played a key role in the Panthers’ Super Bowl 50 berth against the Denver Broncos. Olsen became one of the best tight ends in NFL history.
He was a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro selection. He ranks fifth all-time among tight ends with 742 receptions and 8,683 yards. From 2014 to 2016, he recorded 1,000 receiving yards each season. In the process Olsen became the first tight end in history to record three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He left the Panthers as the franchise’s all-time leading tight end in receiving yards (6,463), receptions (524) and 100-yard receiving games (10). Olsen sits second among Panthers tight ends in receiving touchdowns at 39 and third in receiving yards and receptions.
From Carolina it was on to Seattle. In 2020, he signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks. It was not as productive a year as he’d become accustomed to. Olsen was released by the Seahawks in March of 2021. He announced his retirement from the NFL that same year.
ROAD TO FOX
Olsen’s road to the number one booth actually started while still an active player. In 2017, while playing for the Panthers, Olsen became just the third player in FOX Sports’ history to serve as game analyst (Matt Hasselbeck and Marcus Allen were the first two). Olsen joined Kevin Burkhardt, Charles Davis and Pam Oliver to call a Week 11 game between the Vikings and Rams.
He also jumped into the booth in 2019, his last season with the Panthers. He partnered with Kenny Albert and reporter Lindsay Czarniak for the Week 7 NFL matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants.
In early 2020, during the offseason before his final season with the Seahawks, Olsen also partnered with Burkhardt to call five XFL games for FOX Sports and served as an NFL studio analyst for the network’s coverage of Super Bowl LIV in Miami.
His full-time broadcasting career started in 2021. Olsen joined FOX last season as the network’s color analyst in the No. 2 booth, working next to Burkhardt. When Troy Aikman and Joe Buck left Fox for the Monday Night Football booth at ESPN, Olsen and Burkhardt were promoted to the top booth on Fox before this season.
“We’re thrilled to have this team steward our industry leading and award-winning coverage as we embark on our 29th NFL season, highlighted by our 10th Super Bowl,” said Brad Zager, Fox Sports president of production/operations and executive producer. “Last season, Kevin and Greg showed viewers their undeniable chemistry and ability to call football at an elite level. We can’t wait for fans to see what they’re going to bring to ‘America’s Game of the Week,’ the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl LVII.”
The promotion may be short lived, because Fox has also committed itself to Tom Brady, if/when the quarterback decides to really retire from football. Olsen was well aware of the situation he was getting himself into. He decided that he couldn’t worry about what might come next year, this season was too important for his new found career. So much so, that, as Olsen has playfully tried to talk Brady out of television.
During his first Fox production meeting with Brady, Olsen decided to ‘break the ice’ with some humor. Burkhardt was in the room as well and related the story to the Sports Illustrated Media podcast.
“Tom, I gotta tell ya, this TV thing sucks,” he joked. Brady cracked up according to Burkhardt.
Olsen admitted the story was true. Nobody is quite sure how things will go next year if Brady is available, but it’s good to see that Olsen is handling the ‘elephant in the room’ with class.
AS AN ANALYST
Olsen reached out to many analysts that were already in the business before he got into television full time. One of the things I admire about him, is he’s hell bent on being himself and not trying to imitate others. It would be easy for someone in his position to say, “I’m going to sound like Tony Romo, because he’s having success.” Thankfully Olsen is his own man and brings his own style and flare to the broadcast.
“I’ve been fortunate to have some good guidance and have some cool conversations. But as far as style, I don’t try to be anyone,” said Olsen to the Dave Pasch Podcast. “There’s not anyone where I say, oh, I want to sound like him. I just kind of talk like me and say things that I think are interesting and try to point out elements of the game that I find fun. It might not be for everyone. Some people might not like my style. They might not like the way I describe things. But I think it’s fun. I think it’s interesting. I think, our broadcast, you come away learning the game of football. I like that. I want that to be what people are tuning in for.”
The fact that he’s raw and not that far removed from his playing days works in his favor. Sometimes the more polished you try to sound, the worse it is. People aren’t tuning in to hear the analyst sound like he’s reading from a script. They want to hear, honest and in the moment thoughts from someone that played the game at a high level. He knows the game and most importantly, knows how to relate the things he’s seeing to his audience. You can also hear the enjoyment he’s getting, just talking about the game he loves. It’s like youthful exuberance shining through.
“I think the game is so fun and so interesting and complex and the better we can do as analysts in portraying that, I think it’s fun for the viewer to come away and learn a few things throughout the course of the game.” Olsen said on the Pasch Podcast.
He’s learning the television game as he goes along here. I’m sure it’s almost like being a rookie in the NFL again. Learning, progressing, evolving and succeeding. The process hasn’t taken him very long. Of course, it helps to have a talented play-by-play announcer sitting next to him, and the duo of Burkhardt and Olsen works, and works well. It would be a shame to lose a guy that’s coming into his own, like Olsen, for a guy like Brady. Nobody really knows what Brady will sound like, how analytical, or how entertaining he’ll be. Me personally, I’d be weary. It’s a big name yes, but that doesn’t always translate into someone being a good analyst. Brady has always been the ‘buttoned up’ sound bite, never really saying anything. Fox could be taking a gamble on replacing a sure thing with a less than sure thing.
If I’m running the network, the “A” team at Fox becomes a three-man booth. Olsen has really gelled with Burkhardt and it would be nice, I’m sure, for Brady to have a fellow former player in the booth with him.
DID YOU KNOW?
Olsen twice was named a finalist for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. Inspired by the challenges facing his son, T.J., who was born with a severe congenital heart defect, Olsen and his wife, Kara, founded the HEARTest Yard Program to offer support and services to those facing similar circumstances.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
