If one is into reading tea leaves, signs do not point to Greg Olsen remaining on the lead NFL on FOX team alongside newcomer Tom Brady.
Brady appeared on-stage at the Fox upfront presentation Monday to promote his debut as the network’s lead NFL analyst — Cowboys-Browns in Week 1 — and was joined by the other members of the lead NFL on FOX broadcast team: Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi. Olsen, who has spent the past two seasons working on that same broadcast team, was both absent from the proceedings and completely unmentioned.
Olsen was also omitted from an accompanying Fox Sports “exclusive” about Brady’s debut, which mentioned only Brady and Burkhardt in the broadcast booth.
Olsen has served as the lead NFL on FOX analyst since the sudden departures of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to ESPN’s Monday Night Football two years ago. That run has included calling the Super Bowl and NFC Championship games.
Hanging over his tenure has been the specter of Brady, who Fox hired shortly before naming Olsen to the lead team in 2022. Brady continued to play in the NFL even after being hired by Fox and there was some question as to whether he would ever actually step into the broadcast booth. Those questions would seem to have been answered.
Fox spent years grooming Olsen for an on-air role during his playing career and he spent two seasons on the “B” team before his unexpected promotion. In addition to calling games for Fox during his playing career, he also served as an occasional guest studio analyst for ESPN.
As for Brady’s debut, FOX will have a brighter spotlight in Week 1 than in recent years. Not only does this year mark the first time in five that FOX has had a Cowboys game in Week 1, the network announced Monday that its Week 1 doubleheader will be exclusive — a shift from the past few years, when FOX and CBS aired competing doubleheaders to open the season.
