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Greg Olsen isn’t calling Super Bowl for Fox. Tom Brady is — and Olsen says ‘it sucks’

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Greg Olsen was a key part of the second-most watched TV broadcast of all time.

On February 12th, 2023, over 115 million viewers watched Super Bowl LVII. This exciting matchup pitted the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles, with the Chiefs emerging victorious in a thrilling 38-35 game. The broadcast was provided by Fox, with Kevin Burkhardt taking charge of play-by-play and Olsen offering insightful commentary.

Coming up next month, we might witness a repeat performance. Super Bowl LIX returns to Fox, with the Eagles and Chiefs squaring off again as the teams. As for Burkhardt, he’ll reclaim his spot in the broadcast booth, but Olsen unfortunately won’t be returning this time around.

This year, Tom Brady stepped in as Olsen’s replacement on Fox’s top broadcast team, marking his debut season as a commentator at the year-end championship game. In a series of interviews this week for his “The Heartest Yard” foundation, Olsen expressed his feelings about being moved to a different role and not being included in the network’s plans for postseason coverage this year.

“It sucks,” Olsen told the Charlotte Observer.

Sports

In his role as a commentator for Fox during NFL games, Tom Brady avoids critiquing other teams, their performance, or game officials, and also abstains from attending pre-game broadcast production sessions due to his ownership stake in the Raiders.

He admitted to The Athletic that although “resentment” might not be the perfect term for his emotions regarding the matter, it’s not entirely inaccurate if he’s speaking truthfully.

Olsen clarified that he holds no malice towards Tom, K.B., or Erin [Andrews]. He maintains regular contact with them. However, it’s challenging for him to watch games that he once prepared for and called.

As a three-time Pro Bowl tight end, I concluded my 14-year journey in the NFL after the 2020 season. In the year 2021, I embarked on a new chapter with Fox and found myself sharing the broadcast booth with Burkhardt.

After Joe Buck and Troy Aikman moved from Fox to ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” Kevin Burkhardt and Charles Olsen took over as Fox’s primary broadcast team. Consequently, they got to announce the network’s most significant games every week and during the playoffs. For the 2022 season, this included the Super Bowl.

In 2023, the pair was highly favored by fans, as indicated by an AwfulAnnouncing.com reader poll which placed Burkhardt and Olsen at the fourth spot among the top NFL broadcast teams on television. Notably, in that same year, Olsen received a Sports Emmy for outstanding event analysis.

Sports

During his first broadcast for Fox in the regular season, Tom Brady’s enthusiasm in his commentary was comparable to the reserved demeanor of his former coach, Bill Belichick, during post-game press conferences.

But Olsen’s days as part of that team were numbered from the beginning.

In May of 2022, Fox and Tom Brady reached a contract worth $375 million over 10 years. This agreement would see the seven-time Super Bowl winner become Fox’s primary football analyst upon his retirement from playing. Brady indeed retired following the 2022 season, took a year off in 2023, and began working alongside Burkhardt in the broadcast booth during the fall of that same year.

In a surprising turn of events, Olsen gracefully touched down on solid ground. Although they might be seen as Fox’s second-tier broadcast duo alongside Joe Davis, Olsen and his partner received the top accolade from AwfulAnnouncing.com readers for the 2024 season – a significant leap of 13 spots above Burkhardt/Brady’s booth. Additionally, Olsen joined forces with Noah Eagle to commentate on the Baltimore Ravens-Houston Texans game broadcasted by Netflix on Christmas Day.

It’s not enough for the 39-year-old Olsen.

He shared with The Athletic, “My aim is to commentate on premier matches.” Over the past couple of years, he has been firm about this. His objective remains unchanged – to return to that level. He’s unsure about what the path or destination might be, but he’s persistently striving towards it. Hopefully, he’ll get another chance to commentate on these high-profile games someday.

Sports

A trio of former Fox Sports broadcasters are currently debating a legal dispute initiated by a hairdresser, involving Skip Bayless, Joy Taylor, and Charlie Dixon.

It’s yet uncertain where that event may occur. As reported by The Observer, Olsen still has two years left on his contract with Fox. Unless something unexpected happens, it seems Brady, aged 47, is likely to secure the lead analyst role at that network for most of the next ten years.

In simpler terms, Olsen told The Observer that it’s quite obvious that Fox’s current success trajectory isn’t a concern for him. He admitted he doesn’t know what lies ahead, but he enjoys working at Fox and they have been great to him. He has made it clear to them that he is not satisfied with just calling one o’clock regional games for the remainder of his career.

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2025-01-30 22:31

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