As Greg Olsen embarks on another season in the booth, alongside Kevin Burkhardt, he’s very aware of what he signed up for. While he and Burkhardt will work together as Fox’s No. 1 announcing duo for the 2023 NFL season, it’s unclear if Olsen will stay on as the top analyst in the Fox booth for much longer.
That’s because Fox and Tom Brady agreed to a $375 million contract in 2022 to be the network’s top analyst after he retires. There has been a lot of skepticism surrounding whether Brady will ever join Fox in a full-time broadcasting role. Pushing his Fox debut off until 2024 didn’t do much to quiet the skepticism, but on the season premiere of his Let’s Go podcast for SiriusXM, Brady reiterated that Fox remains in his plans.
While Brady has reiterated his plans, Olsen, who for his part, hasn’t been shy about sharing his frustrations over the situation, shared that Fox hasn’t told him anything yet about its plans for him in 2024. Ahead of being on the call for Sunday’s Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears, Olsen participated in a Q&A with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch and responded quite candidly to the question about his future.
“No. And that’s the truth. That story really is the same as it was a year ago when obviously there was a lot of conversation surrounding it. It was part of everything that went down in the sports media carousel of movement, new networks, and traditional faces at one network going to another. Obviously, all of that was heightened by the fact that Fox had the Super Bowl. It was really a perfect storm of scenarios that led to a very interesting topic. Last year people were like, “Hey, I’m sorry, I have to ask.” I’m like, “You have to ask me. If you don’t ask me, you’re not doing your job.” I think it was a very interesting story, a very interesting timeline. It culminated in what ended up being the biggest (most-viewed) Super Bowl in NFL history.
I knew very well what I was signing up for. I’ve always said I’m a big boy. I understand the rules of engagement. I understood them when I was a player. I understand them in the media space. I try not to live in a fantasy land and lie to myself. All I can do is try to be as good as humanly possible and make it very difficult (for Fox Sports management). I’ve said to (Fox Sports executive producer) Brad Zager and (Fox Sports chairman) Eric Shanks kind of in jest and in humor over a beer — “I’m going to make it really hard on you guys.” I’d be doing those guys a disservice and I’m doing myself and my team a disservice if I went into it half-assed that I’m just a placeholder until (Tom) Brady comes in and takes my spot. That’s not in anyone’s best interest. I have the prime opportunity to have a weekly audition for an entire season in front of the whole country. Why would I do anything less than embrace the moment? It would be a wasted opportunity.”
Olsen and Burkhardt received rave reviews from their call of Super Bowl LVII. And that’s with nearly missing their Super Bowl pregame hit. The three-time former Pro Bowl tight end has been very candid about his experience, knowing that he could very well be keeping Brady’s seat at Fox warm. That doesn’t seem to deter Olsen, who is quite aware of his ongoing situation at Fox but wants to put as much pressure on his bosses as possible (in a good way though).
Olsen said he’s going to do his current role with the network to the best of his abilities until Fox tells him that he can no longer do so. While he and Burkhardt aren’t on the call for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas, that doesn’t mean he won’t continue to give performances that draw rave reviews.
