Greg Olsen in unusual spot at Fox Sports after emerging as top NFL analyst

Fox Sports NFL analyst Greg Olsen finds himself “in a strange position” as he is a “legit No. 1 NFL television analyst,” but because Fox hired Tom Brady, Olsen is calling games “on Fox’s No. 2 team” this season, according to Richard Deitsch of THE ATHLETIC. Olsen is now a “proven commodity after a fantastic 2023 season that saw him consistently deliver second-level analysis, including in the most important game an NFL broadcaster can call — the Super Bowl.” But it “would be inconceivable from a marketing perspective not to place the most famous NFL player in history on your top broadcast team.” Olsen is “well aware of the calculus in front of him.” He approached the 2023 season with the “overarching goal of making Fox Sports’ decision to replace him on the No. 1 team as difficult as possible” — and he did that “with his performance.” But the reality of the situation is there was “also no decision.” It was “Brady’s seat if Brady was coming, and Brady is here.” Olsen says that he has “no animosity toward Brady and does not look at him as a broadcasting rival.” Olsen: “I want him to do well. I want him to succeed. … 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” (THE ATHLETIC, 9/13).

NO DEBATE: In Boston, Ben Volin wrote the “Brady-Belichick debate is revived anew in 2024” as they “unexpectedly have entered the same sphere as TV game analysts.” Volin wrote after watching each performance from Week 1, there is “no debate.” Former coach Bill Belichick is the “one who deserves the No. 1 seat and the fat contract,” while Brady “needs more seasoning on a smaller platform.” Brady is the “NFL’s ideal analyst — handsome, famous, and a terrific ambassador.” But those qualities “made him a boring watch Sunday.” Meanwhile, Belichick is “intimately knowledgeable about the product, he sees everything, and he’s not afraid to be critical,” which “made him a must-watch” (BOSTON GLOBE, 9/12).