Greg Olsen, a former NFL tight end and current FOX NFL analyst, has been quite open about his situation since Tom Brady joined the network. Brady signed a significant 10-year, $375 million contract with FOX to become their lead NFL analyst, a role Olsen previously held and for which he reportedly earned $10 million annually. Following Brady’s arrival, Olsen transitioned to the No. 2 commentary team, with his salary reportedly decreasing to $3 million.
Despite this change, Olsen has consistently stated that he harbors no ill will towards Brady. In a recent appearance on “Pardon My Take,” Olsen clarified his feelings: “I always make sure I’m very clear where my personal aspirations to continue to ascend in this industry and to get back calling those games are completely independent of Tom1 and I…We’ve hung out, personally. We talk on the phone, we keep in touch…we’ve2 gotten to be very good friends on a very personal level since he’s joined Fox.”
Olsen acknowledged his desire to call the biggest NFL games, which is his professional aspiration, separate from his personal relationship with Brady. He noted, “There’s this idea that there’s this personal animosity and competition. There’s not. My relationship with Tom and Fox and Joe Davis and Burkhardt and all my people at Fox couldn’t be better. On3 that parallel line, yes, I want to ascend in the industry…Any motivated guy, you want to be the best at what you do. That is not a knock on the people that are ahead of you.”
While Olsen has handled the situation with class, he has also admitted that being demoted “sucks” and that it’s “hard to sit there and watch games that over the last couple of years you were preparing for and you were calling.” He remains under contract with FOX and has expressed his goal to return to calling top-tier games, though the path at FOX seems less clear with Brady in the lead analyst role for the foreseeable future.
In summary, while Greg Olsen is clear about his ambition to be a lead NFL analyst, he has also made it clear that he has a good personal relationship with Tom Brady and no animosity towards him regarding the change in their roles at FOX.
