FOX Sports broadcaster Greg Olsen said his "success is not contingent" upon Tom Brady after the seven-time Super Bowl champion replaced him as the network's lead NFL analyst.
“I want him to do well. I want him to succeed. I want him to feel I’m a good teammate. It’s no different than if he came into the locker room when I was a player and we happened to play the same position,” Olsen told the Athletic. “My success is not contingent upon Tom. Tom being really good doesn’t make me less good, and Tom being bad doesn’t make me better. Fox has two top teams, and that’s how I view it. But I’ve talked to [on-air partner] Joe [Davis] about this: I want people to think that Joe and I are the best crew on television. It doesn’t matter that we’re the ‘B’ crew.”
Olsen, a former All-Pro tight end who won the Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Personality/Event Analyst in 2023 and 2024, spent the last two seasons working with FOX Sports lead play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt prior to Brady beginning his role as part of a 10-year, $375 million deal. The legendary quarterback's debut, which took place during the Week 1 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns, was met with mixed reviews.
Olsen told the Athletic that he and Brady had more "personal" discussions "over the last six or seven months" and was happy with his role in helping the legendary quarterback with his career transition.
“I told him, ‘Dude, I’m here to help in whatever way I can. I haven’t been doing this for 20 years, but more so than any of the other guys in the industry to a degree, I understand the transition that you’re making because it’s the same transition that I did.’ You go straight from playing to all of a sudden you’re calling the Super Bowl and the top games of the week. I think I have a perspective that he can rely on,” Olsen said.
Brady and Burkhardt are assigned to the New Orleans Saints-Dallas Cowboys matchup in Week 2 while Olsen and Davis are covering the Indianapolis Colts-Green Bay Packers game.