There is a line that can be drawn directly from the recently deceased Billy Packer to Greg Olsen. It has nothing to do with both of them spending the most productive years of their professional lives in North Carolina.
Some of you reading may be too young to remember just how much of an impact Packer’s voice had on CBS’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament. There is a reason then-St. Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli wanted to go after Packer in 2004 when he suggested that despite their undefeated record, the Hawks were undeserving of a number one seed because of their weak schedule.
Packer had influence, particularly over casual fans. It wasn’t because he was a superstar or because he was the centerpiece of one of college basketball’s most dominant programs during his playing or coaching careers. Billy Packer was an All-ACC guard at Wake Forest in the 1960s and then never rose past being an assistant at his alma mater.
Billy Packer had influence because Billy Packer was a damn good broadcaster. Sure, Greg Olsen has more accolades as a player in the NFL than Packer did on the court, but he got to FOX’s top NFL booth for the same reason Packer got to the top of CBS’s college basketball pecking order. They were both really good at the job they were hired to do.
Tom Brady looms large over Olsen and the top NFL booth at FOX. Neither Olsen nor the fans know when Brady will hang up his helmet and be done on the field, but when he does, he has $375 million and the seat currently occupied by Greg Olsen waiting for him.
It’s not because Tom Brady has a dynamic personality. FOX didn’t make an offer after multiple screen tests. FOX hired Tom Brady because he is Tom Brady just like CBS hired Tony Romo because he’s Tony Romo and ESPN hired Alex Rodriguez because he is Alex Rodriguez.
Star power has always held sway in the entertainment business, but it feels like the opportunities to ascend to stardom are fading.
Billy Packer called 34 Final Fours. Before he got the chance to do that though, he was working on regionally syndicated ACC basketball broadcasts. The Final Four wasn’t really what it is now the first time Packer served as an analyst. His profile grew with that of the tournament.
Greg Olsen found time to work in a few audition broadcasts while he was still a member of the Carolina Panthers and the Seattle Seahawks. Last year, he and Kevin Burkhardt made up the network’s number 2 NFL broadcast team. The team in front of them left and FOX brass trusted Olsen, so he got his promotion alongside Burkhardt. His ascension may have gone faster than Packer’s but in both cases, they got actual reps in before being thrown into the fire.
They aren’t the only ones of course. ESPN has a long list of analysts that cover college sports (Kirk Herbstriet and Dick Vitale chief among them) that did not get the job because they were already stars. They came to the network, got better, got on the biggest games and shows and became stars. Joel Klatt followed a similar trajectory for FOX’s college football coverage. Cris Collinsworth did the same for the network’s coverage of the NFL before eventually leaving for NBC. All of those men are better analysts for the struggle. Mistakes lead to education and that education leads to improvement.
Although I invoked his name, this column really doesn’t have anything specifically to do with Tom Brady. He is just the latest example of a growing trend. Ability, or even potential, is being passed over in favor of celebrity. In fact, Brady’s deal with FOX is very similar (although considerably more lucrative) than the one Drew Brees signed with NBC a few years ago, and how did that turn out for the network?
Not every star player turned broadcaster will be bad at the job, but the practice is eliminating the opportunities for networks to build their own stars.
I am firmly on the record when it comes to Greg Olsen. I think that at the very least, he should be in the top FOX both along with Burkhardt and Brady. He has clearly earned the position.
Billy Packer was a weirdo in the very best way. He hired a psychic in an effort to solve the murders of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman. He was the top broadcaster for Putt Putt competitions. He didn’t schedule interviews. He would just give you his home phone number and if you caught him, awesome, he was always happy to talk. If not, well, tough shit. Call back later.
We wouldn’t know any of that if he wasn’t given the chance to grow in this business. By the time he was on the call of his sport’s single biggest event, Packer had the reps and education to become an institution. Fans and our business were better off for it. Why abandon that model now in favor of very famous people that have never proven that they have even had an interesting thought?
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
