Tom Brady will join the FOX broadcast booth this season, displacing Greg Olsen as the network’s No. 1 NFL analyst alongside Kevin Burkhardt. Olsen is sticking with FOX, though, partnering with Joe Davis on the No. 2 broadcast team. And the former NFL tight end has been publicly supportive of Brady’s looming career change despite […]
Tom Brady will join the FOX broadcast booth this season, displacing Greg Olsen as the network’s No. 1 NFL analyst alongside Kevin Burkhardt.
Olsen is sticking with FOX, though, partnering with Joe Davis on the No. 2 broadcast team. And the former NFL tight end has been publicly supportive of Brady’s looming career change despite effectively being demoted.
So, has Olsen given Brady any TV advice?
“I had a chance to speak with Tom a couple of weeks ago, and he was just kind of picking my brain about the prep and the industry and what to expect and whatnot,” Olsen told USA TODAY’s “Sports Seriously.” “So, I don’t know. Every guy has their own journey in sports broadcasting. I think everyone thinks it’s easy. I think everyone thinks getting up there and calling a live football game for three hours off the cuff, and being able to get in, get out, deal with the flow of the game, the players, the schemes, the terminology — there’s a lot going on during a game, and I think some guys really transition to it well and take to it pretty quickly. And other guys haven’t. We’ve seen a mixed bag of results over the last couple of years.
“So, obviously, his playing career and his résumé and whatnot is an all-timer. So, we’ll see how the year goes. I don’t think there’s any real correlation between being a great player or an average player, and how that correlates to being a great broadcaster or an average broadcaster. I think we’ve seen examples on both ends of that spectrum. So, we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Olsen drew rave reviews for his performance as FOX’s lead NFL analyst throughout the 2023 NFL season, a development that put the network in a bit of a pickle after already signing Brady to a massive contract.
Brady nevertheless will take over in Week 1 of the 2024 season, though, kicking off his broadcast career with coverage of the Dallas Cowboys vs. Cleveland Browns matchup.
It’s a fascinating transition, for several reasons, the least of which is Brady’s recent Netflix roast, which included some polarizing jokes and a little bit of regret for the former New England Patriots quarterback.
