Yahoo Sports Greg Olsen on demotion from Fox's top NFL announcing team: 'I’m going to call big-time games again'
Olsen has two more years left on his deal with Fox
The last time the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles met in the Super Bowl, former NFL tight end Greg Olsen was calling the game with Kevin Burkhardt as part of Fox's No. 1 announcing team.
Two years later, with the same two teams meeting in Super Bowl LIX and Fox airing the game, Olsen will be watching from home after being replaced by Tom Brady, despite drawing rave reviews as a lead analyst.
While it may be a shuffling of the pecking order at Fox, Olsen sees this as a temporary demotion.
“In my mind, I’m going to call big-time games again,” Olsen told the Charlotte Observer's Scott Fowler this week. “I’m going to call Super Bowl games again. I just don’t know the timeline or the venue.”
Brady is in the first year of a 10-season, $375 million contract with Fox. Despite a conflict of interest being part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, the seven-time Super Bowl winner doesn't appear to be headed out of the broadcast booth any time soon. Olsen has two more seasons left on his deal and said he's spoken with management at Fox Sports about his unhappiness with being dropped to their No. 2 NFL analyst.
“It’s pretty clear that the path, the upward trajectory as far as Fox goes, probably is a non-factor," Olsen said. "I don’t know what the future holds. I enjoy working at Fox. Fox has been very good to me. They know. I’ve been very honest with them that I’m not content just calling one o’clock regional games for the rest of my career.”
Olsen told The Athletic recently that despite watching the NFL playoffs from home and not from inside a stadium, he's found himself thinking about what he would have said after certain plays and that it's hard to just watch and enjoy games now.
Brady has heaped praise on Olsen since it was announced Brady would be assuming the No. 1 analyst's job. Olsen made sure to note he doesn't hold any "ill will" toward the three-time NFL MVP and that he's supported him in his first year on the job.
“We’ve talked. He’s been super-great, gracious and grateful in return," Olsen said. "So there’s no personal animosity in any of this, right? This is strictly business.”
