According to Greg Olsen, there’s a misconception that transitioning from athlete to media personality is effortless.
During a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone, the NFL on Fox color analyst said that he thinks there’s an ongoing belief that people think retired players simply walk away from the field and land dream jobs like podcasts and shows on every network.
It’s not that simple.
“The reality is, as you know firsthand, Pat, it’s a lot of work,” said Olsen. “It’s hard to transition into that world. It’s hard to find your voice. It’s hard to find the right opportunities. There’s so many different outlets that guys can do. You know, you can host your own show, you can sit behind the desk, you can commentate games. And for me, it was commentating games that I found pretty quickly was my path.
“And I was fortunate when I was playing my last couple of years in ’17 and in ’19, my bye weeks when everyone else was going on vacation and hanging; I was going to call games as a current player on my bye week. I was fortunate that (Fox) gave me these opportunities. It was something I was laying the foundation on before my last season in 2020, where I knew once my playing days were over, I had laid enough of a foundation to have some opportunities with Fox to do that right out of the game and go right into the booth.
“After trying a lot of different outlets and a lot of different things that a lot of people never even saw on TV because they weren’t real big shows, calling games kind of became something I thought I could pursue. And that’s really where I’ve put my interest in, obviously, since I retired.”
Olsen’s interest in commentating led to him being on Fox’s No. 1 NFL broadcast team alongside Kevin Burkhardt before being cast aside in favor of Tom Brady. While it’s still Olsen’s goal to be the top color analyst at any network, not just Fox, he’ll embark on a new journey with Joe Davis on Fox’s No. 2 team this fall.
And while Olsen has immersed himself as a fan-favorite and one of the better commentators in the sport — with an Emmy in tow as evidence — this wasn’t just something that happened overnight. He had to work at it, just like he had to become one of his generation’s better tight ends. And that’s what he wants fans to understand, that transitioning from athlete to successful media personality requires dedication and hard work, just like excelling on the field.
And his success as a commentator, even with the recent changes at Fox, is a testament to his commitment to finding his niche in the modern world of sports media
