Greg Olsen’s rookie season as a FOX football analyst went about as well one could hope, leading to an eventual promotion to the networks lead color commentary role. Well, until Tom Brady became available.
FOX Sports will pay Brady a record $375 million over the course of a ten year contract to serve as the networks lead analyst once his playing days are over. That means Olsen, who earned the role less than three months ago after the departure of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, will receive a demotion no matter how well he does in the role.
“We had heard the same rumors everybody else did and we were trying to make sense of it all,” Olsen told Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take” podcast. “When the news came, it was like you just said: If it was someone else — like if I got jumped by someone else, sure, I would’ve wanted to burn the city to the ground, right? I would have been pissed and whatever.
“But when you lose out on Tom Brady, it’s like, ‘This sucks. At least he doesn’t take the job now; maybe I can have my time in the sun and keep his seat warm until he gets there.’ But yeah, if you’re going to lose, at least lose to him.
“I can at least live with the only person in the world who beat me out was Tom Brady. I can live with that.”
Luckily for Olsen, he is in line to call Super Bowl LVII with Kevin Burkhardt to conclude this upcoming season. That showing could perhaps serve as an audition for Olsen as he navigates life as a sports analyst.
