As FOX Sports prepares to broadcast its second Super Bowl championship in three seasons, it will do so with a conspicuous alteration in the broadcast booth. Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady will be on the call delivering analysis alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt, representing the culmination of his first season of a reported 10-year, $375 million contract with the company. As Brady moves from the gridiron to the booth for the Big Game, former lead FOX NFL analyst Greg Olsen is on the sidelines watching the action from afar. Olsen, who worked with Joe Davis and Pam Oliver this past season, called regional games and was not on the FOX airwaves for playoff action.
In a recent interview with Nick Carboni of WCNC Charlotte, Olsen was asked whether or not he believes there to be a path in which he can return to the booth for championship weekend or the Super Bowl in the near future. Replying to the query, he explained that he hoped it was the case and was motivated to receive chances to call marquee matchups surrounding the league.
“I’ll be honest – it’s hard sitting home on the couch watching the games, and 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?’”
Aside from his work with FOX Sports, Olsen was on the broadcast for the Netflix presentation of a doubleheader of NFL games on Christmas Day. Olsen worked as an analyst with Noah Eagle, Jamie Erdahl and Steve Wyche on the second matchup of the day, an AFC battle between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans. In addition to his broadcasting responsibilities, Olsen is the co-founder of Youth Inc., a digital media company building a youth sports network and commerce business. The company raised $4.5 million in a seed funding round last May as it continues its growth alongside Olsen and additional co-founders Ryan Baise and Tim Murphy.
In a previous interview with Barrett Media, Olsen divulged that there had not been discussions about utilizing him in a three-person broadcasting booth with Burkhardt and Brady, something to which he would not have been opposed. Recognizing that he has called the Super Bowl, conference championship games and Thanksgiving Day matchups, he admits it is difficult not to do it anymore.
“It’s not ideal, but listen, wherever it is, whatever network it’s on, whatever opportunity is there, my goal is still to just continue to show that 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,” Olsen said, “and I’m going to continue to work until that opportunity just completely is out the door.”
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