Tom Brady is set to replace Greg Olsen in the FOX broadcast booth next season. Olsen on Tuesday sounded like a man who knows his days are numbered.
Olsen spoke over the phone with The Athletic’s Joseph Person and Richard Deitsch about the former NFL tight end’s looming exit as the lead analyst at FOX.
The 3-time Pro Bowler, who has been a full-time announcer at FOX since 2021, acknowledged that Brady eventually taking over was made very clear to him when he took the job. But instead of lamenting an early exit, Olsen took pride in what the broadcast has looked like since he arrived.
“We’ve been planning for that for two years. We knew when we took the job that Brady was there whenever he was going to decide to come,” Olsen told Person and Deitsch.
“But the one thing I will say is I’m damn proud of what we did for two years. I don’t know any crew — from [Kevin] Burkhardt to Erin [Andrews] and Tom [Rinaldi] to our producer, our whole truck — I don’t know if anyone produces a better football game than we do.”
The 38-year-old announcer has been widely lauded for his performance as FOX’s lead analyst. But when someone like Brady wants to try his hand at the craft, anyone else would have to step aside.
Olsen could potentially drop down to FOX’s No. 2 analyst but that would entail taking a massive pay cut. There have also been rumblings about Olsen and Brady announcing games together in a three-man booth.
Olsen said that he’s planning to explore “an entire spectrum of opportunities” for next season. Whether the opportunity he opts for keeps him at FOX remains to be seen.
