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Greg Olsen Makes His Broadcasting Goal Very Clear: ‘I Want to Call Top Games’

Also in Traina Thoughts: New ‘SI Media With Jimmy Traina’; NFL + ‘Jeopardy!’; Player in Super Bowl can’t afford suite and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. Right after Who is going to win the Super Bowl?, the biggest question in the sports world right now is, What’s going to happen to Greg Olsen?

While the regular season is seven months away, all indications are that Tom Brady will replace Olsen as Fox’s lead NFL analyst and work alongside Kevin Burkhardt.

This was Fox’s plan for two years and it also called for Olsen to move down to the network's No. 2 crew once Brady was ready to step into the booth.

But after getting a taste as the No. 1 guy for two seasons and after generating rave reviews and after being a major hit with viewers, it doesn’t appear that Olsen is down for a demotion. 

Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday, Olsen made it clear that he wants to be a No. 1 analyst somewhere.

“I want to call top games,” Olsen told Patrick. “Two years ago when when everything unfolded, and obviously I’ve known Tom was coming for over two years, year and a half, whatever you want to call it, and that part of it we always knew. It was a matter of when. We didn’t know exactly when. He ended up not coming this past season, which gave me a second year with Kevin in the booth. with the A team, but going forward my goals haven’t changed.

“My goals when I started out calling games with Fox three years ago was I aspired to be a top broadcaster. I really thought I could do it. I thought if given the opportunity and the chance, I could show people that I could do it and I got the opportunity and Fox was kind enough to give me that and I think over the last two years we’ve really changed the narrative. I think we’ve changed, ‘Hey, this is just a placeholder’ to being like, ‘No, this guy can do it.’

“So my goals and aspirations, if anything, have even gotten more committed to, I want to call top games, I want to call games in front of 57 million people and dive into the biggest moments and why it’s happening and I feel like we’ve done as good a job at that as anybody in the industry over the last couple seasons.

“Where that is how, that is, when that is, I don’t know. There’s so many moving parts out of my control. My goal is to be a top A broadcaster again and I’m going to do everything in my power to achieve that. That’s been the goal that I’ve laid out since I entered this field upon retirement three years ago.”

Patrick then asked Olsen if he’d request a trade from Fox.

“I’m not really in the business of making demands I’m not sitting here holding anyone’s feet to the fire. Fox understands the position I’m in. They understand what my aspirations are. We’re not sitting there banging the table and saying, ‘You have to let us...’ We’re not doing that.

“We understand what we signed up. They understand where I am and, being at this stage of my career, where I want to go. We understand the delicate situation that we’re in.

“I understand when Tom Brady’s looming over your shoulder, it’s the biggest news in sports. I get it. He’s Tom Brady. He’s someone I’ve respected for 20 years. I understand the uniqueness of what’s going on and I feel like we’ve handled it as well as we could for the last two years. If I can get another opportunity to call top games at Fox or somewhere else, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

While it doesn‘t seem at the moment that there’s an obvious network for Olsen to jump to as a No. 1 analyst, there’s plenty of time for that to change. Don’t underestimate the desire of a network to have a lead analyst who is, for the most part, universally liked. 

2. A brand new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning and it features a conversation about all the latest sports media news with The Ringer editor in large Bryan Curtis.

Is the Tony Romo backlash from viewers warranted? How has Romo performed in the playoffs? How will viewers react to Romo calling this year’s Super Bowl between the Chiefs and Niners?

How will things play out at Fox with Brady replacing Olsen next season? What are Olsen’s options? What can we expect from Brady going into television?

Other topics discussed include the impact Taylor Swift could have on Super Bowl ratings; ESPN causing a mess for itself by firing Jeff Van Gundy and hiring Doc Rivers; the Netflix-WWE deal for Raw; Stephen A. Smith's gameplan for the future; this year’s Radio Row highlights and much more.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

3. Christian McCaffrey’s mom says the Niners running back can’t afford a suite at the Super Bowl. McCaffrey is in the middle of a four-year, $64 million contract. Something ain’t right here.

4. Tom Brady’s father had some things to say about Bill Belichick.

5. NFL Films re-released this clip of Jeopardy!’s history with NFL categories on the show and it’s a must-watch if you’ve never seen it before.

6. Here’s one for the “time flies" category. Today, Feb. 1, marks the 20th anniversary of the Justin Timberlake/Janet Jackson/wardrobe malfunction Super Bowl halftime show. 

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Curb Your Enthusiasm returns for its final season this Sunday, so I’m featuring Curb videos all week in this space. Twitter user @eddiecarstone requested the clip when Jeff explains to Larry why he’s a “social assassin.”

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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