Greg Olsen admits being replaced by Tom Brady on Fox No. 1 broadcast team was an ‘ego hit’

Greg Olsen continues to do great work alongside Joe Davis on Fox’s No. 2 NFL broadcast team and has seemingly made peace with the fact that he was replaced by Tom Brady on Fox’s No. 1 team alongside Kevin Burkhardt. But in a recent interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith, Olsen revealed how, behind closed doors, he was not always as happy with being replaced by a broadcaster with no experience at the time.

An Emmy Award-winning game analyst, as Olsen is and was upon being replaced by Brady, being demoted in favor of someone with as little experience as Brady had calling games is certainly unheard of. But having the chance to bring in somebody with the kind of name value Brady brings was simply too much for Fox to pass up, regardless of whether one agrees with the decision.

Speaking with Marty Smith on Smith’s podcast, Never Settle, Olsen explains how he now has no kind of hard-feelings towards Brady or Fox in regards to being demoted. But when he first found out Brady was taking his spot, he was both upset and had an “ego hit.”

“I think how I view it now is probably different than how I viewed it in the moment,” said Olsen.

“Were you pissed at first?” asked Smith.

“Of course,” replied Olsen. “Professionally, no different than I’m sure for him, or for any of us, there is a level of competitiveness that allows any of us to exist in what we do. When you have a young driver come join Hendrick (Motorsports), are you going to be supportive? Are you going to give them advice? Of course. Do you want him to beat you in the Coca-Cola 600? Hell no. That is the world we’ve all lived in. So that’s not new to me. In the moment, is your ego hit? Sure.

“The unique nature of how this whole thing went down was Tom signed a futures deal, in essence, that he was going to play one more year and then come into broadcasting. So I got promoted from the No. 2 crew with my partner Kevin (Burkhardt). So then we got Fox’s A-crew, and that was their Super Bowl year. When I signed the deal to be the A-crew, I knew Tom was coming in. So in fairness, I entered it with eyes completely wide open.”

Olsen has since described the dynamic of him and Brady working at the network as a “friendly competition.” And even though Olsen hasn’t always been happy about being passed up by Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champ has been incredibly candid about using advice given to him by Olsen about how to transition from a role as a player to being a broadcaster.

The situation has largely been handled with grace by Olsen. And despite the fact that Fox may not view him as a better option than Brady on their No. 1 team, Olsen continues to receive high-profile opportunities to showcase his abilities in the booth on both Fox and from other networks.

Notably, in addition to their responsibilities at Fox, Olsen and Joe Davis will be on the call of the Week 4 Minnesota Vikings-Pittsburgh Steelers game from Dublin, Ireland, which will air on NFL Network. This also comes after Fox loaned out Olsen’s services during Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL doubleheader last season.