Tom Brady has a champion in Greg Olsen.
Speaking to The Athletic In a new interview, Olsen, now in his first season with Fox Sports' second team after Brady slid into the former tight end's position on the network's first team, said his “success doesn't hinge on” the seven-time Super Bowl winner, who made his long-awaited debut as an NFL commentator last Sunday.
“I want him to do well. I want him to be successful. I want him to feel like a good teammate. It's no different than when I was a player and he walked into the locker room and we happened to play the same position,” Olsen, 39, said of the 47-year-old Brady.
“My success is not down to Tom. Just because Tom is really good doesn't mean I'm inferior, and just because Tom is really bad doesn't mean I'm better. There are two top teams at Fox, and I think so. But I [on-air partner] Joe [Davis] Regarding this, he said, “I want people to think that Joe and I are the best crew in television. It doesn't matter that we're a 'B' crew.”
Olsen has worked alongside top play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhart the past two seasons and was awarded a Sports Emmy in May for his work.
Brady signed a massive 10-year, $375 million contract with Fox ahead of the 2022 season, which will be his final NFL season.
He took a season off in 2023, the same year he announced his retirement from the NFL, and made a spectacular debut last week in the Cowboys' dominant 33-17 win over the Browns.
Brady's analysis drew mixed reactions, but Joe Buck, who was in the head booth at Fox with Troy Aikman before moving to ESPN in 2022, stressed patience.
“This is a tough job and we all do our part,” Buck said on “The Michael Kay Show” Monday. “We all have to stay calm and know what we need to do. I spoke with him on Friday, and I don't think anybody has worked harder to prepare for the first broadcast than Tom. And now we have to move forward and stay calm. It's just not fair that after five seconds everyone wants to give their opinion. It's not going to work that way.”
Red Zone host Scott Hanson retracted his comments about Brady after saying the future Hall of Famer “needs to be more excited in the booth.”
“This was unfair and inconsiderate. I certainly was joking but did not calculate how it would be received,” the NFL Network personality wrote last week. About X“Sorry @TomBrady. I promise to support this new endeavor!”
Olsen told The Athletic that he has had more “personal” conversations with Brady “over the last six or seven months,” adding that he is happy to be there to support Brady at a major turning point in his career.
“I told him, 'Hey, I'm here to help in any way I can. I haven't been doing this for 20 years, but to some extent, I understand the changes you're going through more than anybody else in this industry, because it's the same changes I'm going through.' All of a sudden you go from playing to doing play-by-play of the Super Bowl or the big game of the week. I think I have a perspective that he can rely on,” Olsen said.
Brady and Burkhart will be the call-up for the Cowboys-Saints game in Week 2.
