Sunday featured two epic showdowns for the right to play in Super Bowl LVIII. While CBS broadcast the AFC Championship between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs, Fox handled the NFC Championship between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers.
While there were plenty of storylines on the field, there were several happening within those broadcasting booths. That led to a lot of opinions about which broadcast team performed better. Specifically, there were a lot of comparisons between CBS’s Tony Romo, who has been facing harsh criticism, and Fox’s Greg Olsen, who is presumably calling his final game in the No. 1 booth before being replaced by Tom Brady next season.
With Romo and Jim Nantz’s call of the Chiefs’s win over the Ravens, the embattled analyst continued to receive harsh feedback because of his strange phrasing and awkward calls.
"In games like this, the ball matters more than any game."
– Tony Romo. https://t.co/mfzwC4ceJZ pic.twitter.com/wyfxiTUwiA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 28, 2024
When it came time for the Fox broadcast of the 49ers’ epic comeback win over the Lions, it felt like night and day on social media as Olsen and Burkhardt were largely praised for their insight throughout the game.
Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen are excellent. Clear. Enthusiastic. Balanced. Chemistry. Energetic.
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 29, 2024
Admittedly I'm biased, but it's a travesty if this is the last game with Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen together in the booth.
Figure something out, @NFLonFOX
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) January 29, 2024
That difference between even starker when Awful Announcing received over 12,000 votes in an X poll asking which was the preferred announcing booth. Burkhardt and Olsen overwhelmingly won out over Nantz and Romo, garnering over 69 percent of the votes as of the time of this writing.
Your preferred announcing booth out of today’s games
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 29, 2024
In particular, many viewers pointed to the contrast between Olsen and Romo as color commentators, with others in the sports media praising the former player for his insights.
Greg olsen >>>>>>>> Romo https://t.co/0pJXveMXmF
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) January 29, 2024
Everyone loves Greg Olsen and FOX is going to demote him.
Everyone pulls their hair out listening to Tony Romo and CBS gave him a 10-year deal.
If you've ever worked in TV, this does not surprise you.
— Matt Edwards (@MattEdwards) January 29, 2024
Greg Olsen accurately explaining a sift on empty protection https://t.co/kXiZmRj2T6 pic.twitter.com/SiR04tqFbg
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) January 29, 2024
https://twitter.com/DariusJButler/status/1751768605996253529
Lots of terrific performances today but let’s appreciate greatness while we still have it: Greg Olsen talking about situational football pic.twitter.com/gNlbuHt6Jr
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) January 29, 2024
There’s bad news on both fronts as Olsen’s future with Fox is in doubt thanks to Brady’s impending arrival as well as the fact that CBS will be broadcasting Super Bowl LVIII. So if you didn’t enjoy Romo’s work in the booth, you’re in for a rough evening.
