Tom Brady bumped Greg Olsen from the lead NFL booth on Fox, but not before asking his predecessor for some advice.
Earlier this week, Fox announced Brady’s first regular season assignment alongside Kevin Burkhardt in their top booth will be the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns in Week 1’s late national window. Subsequently, Brady’s long-awaited arrival has relegated Olsen to the No. 2 booth for Fox, joining play-by-play voice Joe Davis.
Brady has reportedly been preparing feverishly for his NFL on Fox broadcast debut, and apparently, part of that preparation included asking Olsen for advice. Olsen recently joined USA Today’s Sports Seriously and discussed his interaction with Brady.
“I had a chance to speak with Tom a couple of weeks ago, and he was just kind of picking my brain about the prep and the industry and what to expect and whatnot,” Olsen told USA Today. “So, I don’t know. Every guy has their own journey in sports broadcasting. I think everyone thinks it’s easy. I think everyone thinks getting up there and calling a live football game for three hours, off the cuff and being able to get in, get out, deal with the flow of the game, the players, the schemes, the terminology…there’s a lot going on during a game and I think some guys really transition to it well and take to it pretty quickly, and other guys haven’t. We’ve seen a mixed bag of results over the last couple of years.
“So, obviously, his playing career and his resume and whatnot is an all-timer. So, we’ll see how the year goes. I don’t think there’s any real correlation between being a great player or an average player, and how that correlates to being a great broadcaster or an average broadcaster. I think we’ve seen examples on both ends of that spectrum. So, we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Olsen has made a highly successful transition from the playing field to the broadcast booth. Not only was Olsen tasked with replacing Troy Aikman for Fox, but he was dealt the added awkwardness of knowing he was just a placeholder for Brady. Still, Olsen managed to become one of the most popular analysts in the NFL.
Considering his success, it’s smart for aspiring broadcasters to take any insight Olsen is willing to offer. Although it’s a bit surprising to learn Brady is one of those broadcasters seeking insight from the person he’s replacing. No one would fault Olsen for feeling bitter toward Brady or Fox, but he’s handled the challenge of being a No. 1 broadcaster, and the subsequent unwarranted relegation and pay cut, with class.
