Tom Brady replacing Greg Olsen in the top Fox NFL booth may feel like a sore spot for some, but Brady’s Fox teammate Colin Cowherd believes the nature of the move could actually bring the best out of Brady in the booth.
In the latest episode of The Colin Cowherd Podcast, Cowherd noted that Brady continues to come into the Fox studios in Los Angeles consistently to practice his craft and explained why he expects Brady to rise to the occasion in place of Olsen.
“Greg Olsen was so good, I think it actually plays into Brady’s favor,” Cowherd said. “He’s replacing somebody who was excellent, so I think in my career when I’ve replaced somebody who was really good (like) Tony Kornheiser, you just work harder.”
Cowherd took Kornheiser’s slot on ESPN Radio in the mid-2000s.
Beyond Brady’s own hard work and the psychology of taking over for a veteran star, Cowherd also believes Fox will bring the best out of Brady just like it did Olsen.
“The quality of production and announcing teams is really high at Fox, much higher than ESPN, in my opinion, on average,” Cowherd added. “The one thing about Fox is they don’t miss a lot on play-by-play guys and analyst guys; they just don’t. I think it’s what the network does better than everybody.”
Cowherd reported he’s heard of Brady being at the Fox offices close to ten times in recent months.
“Tom will be diligent and thorough; that’s what he is,” Cowherd said. “Brady is putting in a lot of hours. I don’t keep track of it, but sometimes I will see somebody in the building, and I will ask, ‘What’s that?’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, Tom’s in the building today,’ and it’s like the seventh time.”
Brady’s appearance on The Herd on Memorial Day was apparently well-received among NFL people. Cowherd said he got a call from Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard talking up the interview.
Still, it will be a big adjustment. Speaking eloquently for several minutes in an interview is a different mission than delivering a good broadcast as a game analyst.
“I thought Olsen was so good with (Fox announcer Kevin) Burkhardt … that chemistry thing, it’s hard to develop,” Cowherd explained. “Tom will have to talk 200 times between 8 and 14 seconds. If he boots it once, that’s all anybody’s going to talk about.”
In the meantime, expect Brady to continue practicing, including with Burkhardt. So long as he doesn’t re-sign with an NFL team before September, he will have a big task as arguably the greatest player ever to call games and the replacement for one of the industry’s best broadcasters in Olsen.
