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Former NFL All-Pro tight end and current FOX Sports analyst Greg Olsen addressed his recent demotion amid the hiring of seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady while accepting his Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Personality/Event Analyst Tuesday (May 21) night.
“I think there’s a lot of people wondering what I’m going to say right now,” Olsen said, which was met with laughter. “Coming into tonight, people asked me, they say, ‘What’s your biggest threat to your future in the business?’ And everyone’s like, ‘Oh, Brady and this,’ and I think it’s Andy from ‘Toy Story.’ If he gets in, (Cris) Collinsworth, (Troy) Aikman, we’re dead. But I really appreciate it.”
Olsen, who previously won the same award last year but didn't attend the ceremony, spent several years as FOX Sports' lead NFL analyst prior to the network's hiring of Brady for the same role before the conclusion of his NFL career. The former All-Pro tight end continued working alongside lead play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt during Brady's final NFL season in 2022 and gap period in 2023, but will transition to the network's No. 2 color commentator role working alongside new play-by-play partner Joe Davis in 2024.
Olsen previously revealed that Brady sought advice from him while preparing for his new role.
“He was just kind of picking my brain about the prep and the industry and what to expect and whatnot,” Olsen said via USA TODAY. “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.”
Brady agreed to become FOX Sports' lead NFL analyst as part of a record-setting 10-year, $375 deal that was agreed upon prior to the conclusion of his playing career, but publicly stated that he wouldn't start until 2024, taking the past year to spend time with his family and prepare for the job. The seven-time Super Bowl champion will make his FOX Sports broadcasting debut during the Week 1 matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns, the network announced during its Upfronts in New York event on May 13.