Greg Olsen, from calling Fox Super Bowl to not calling Fox Super Bowl, says: "It sucks"
Two years ago, Fox was preparing to televise a Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl. Greg Olsen was preparing to call the game.
Currently, Fox is preparing to televise a Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl. Greg Olsen is not.
He's been making the media rounds this week. In an interview with Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer, Olsen summed up his thoughts on the current state of his multiple-Emmy-winning career: 'It sucks.'
Olsen told Fowler that Olsen has informed the powers-that-be at Fox that he's not happy with his role as the No. 2 analyst behind Tom Brady.
'In my mind, I'm going to call big-time games again,' Olsen told Fowler. 'I'm going to call Super Bowl games again. I just don't know the timeline or the venue.'
Tom Brady, who supplements his Fox position with minority ownership of/maximum influence over the Raiders, has nine years left on his contract. And he has said he fully intends to fulfill it.
'It's pretty clear that the path, the upward trajectory as far as Fox goes, probably is a non-factor,' Olsen told Fowler. 'I don't know what the future holds. I enjoy working at Fox. Fox has been very good to me. They know. I've been very honest with them that I'm not content just calling one o'clock regional games for the rest of my career.'
All broadcasters aspire for more than what they have. The difference for Olsen is that he's already had more. And he lost his more because Fox chased a bigger name, even if it's not (in the opinion of many) a better voice.
'To go from calling two years of the top games — a Super Bowl and then last year through the NFC Championship,' Olsen told Fowler. 'And now this year, your season just ends in Week 18, and you're home like everybody is, sitting on the couch watching it.'
Does he resent Brady? Olsen answered that question for Joseph Person of TheAthletic.com.
'I don't think resentment's probably accurate,' Olsen told Person. 'But I also think it's not too far off, if I'm being honest. I don't have any ill will — there's no personal resentment towards Tom, or obviously [Kevin Burkhardt] and Erin [Andrews]. I still talk to all of them fairly regularly. I'm hoping to see them next week down in New Orleans and grab dinner or a drink and just kind of shoot the shit, catch up.'
The art of critiquing broadcaster performance is incredibly subjective and inherently uninformed. No one knows the connection between the analyst's base of knowledge/depth of preparation and the words the analyst chooses to formulate and express in short snippets formulated on the fly.
But Olsen has the hardware, twice, for being the best in all of sports. The Emmy that Brady displayed in the background during a recent interview with Colin Cowherd came from the Man in the Arena documentary.
And maybe Olsen will win another. He's still doing games. And he will only get better as he has more experience.
Eventually, Olsen will experience being a No. 1 analyst again. The problem is that there aren't many seats and they rarely become open. Unless a network decides to throw a gigantic pile of money at the next big name who wants a broadcasting job — even if he also plans to own and operate one of the 32 teams he'll be covering.
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