Greg Olsen Thinks 'it Sucks' He Got Demoted to Make Room for Tom Brady and Doesn't Care Who Knows It
This was 50 weeks ago today. Greg Olsen was fresh off calling the Super Bowl for Fox. He was at the top of his profession. Universally well regarded for his talent and professionalism. And his uncanny resemblance to the guy who stars as Dexter probably didn't hurt him any with the ladies:
In a few months' time, all his dedication and broadcasting skills won him an Emmy:
So it would be natural to assume Olsen's ticket was punched, and he'd be in that second chair alongside Kevin Burkhardt, calling all the premiere games, get all the prestigious awards, being celebrated around the sports world, and getting invited to all the best events like a true celebrity all the way until he hit retirement.
And under any other circumstances, you'd be right. But life's great lottery dealt him a bad beat. In a planet of 7 billion people, his spin of the wheel came up Tom Brady. The one human no one else can compete with. And almost a year later, Olsen is still salty about it and gives zero shits if the people who pay his salary (or the 30% that's left of it) hear about it:
Source - Brady isn’t going anywhere, but Olsen is chomping at the bit to call the biggest games.
Olsen, who has been praised time and time again for his insightfulness on Fox’s No. 2 team, knows that his success isn’t contingent on Brady. But as he sits there, tweeting along with the rest of us, he can’t help but feel like something’s missing.
He’s made it clear that he wants to call top games, a message he echoed during a recent Q&A with The Athletic’s Joseph Person. However, he also noted that sitting back and watching isn’t something he wants to do for the foreseeable future.
“I don’t think resentment’s probably accurate. But I also think it’s not too far off if I’m being honest,” Olsen told Person when asked about any resentment toward Brady or his employer. I don’t have any ill will — there’s no personal resentment towards Tom. …
“But yeah, it’s hard to sit there and watch games that over the last couple of years you were preparing for, and you were calling. And then you’re sitting there on your couch and you’re watching the game, you’re almost kind of broadcasting the game in your brain. You’re saying, ‘Oh, man, what would I have said on this play? There was so much to talk about there. That would’ve been super fun to dive into.'”
You've got to feel bad for the man. Even if he wasn't popular and seemingly a good guy. Having his aspirations crushed in this way over circumstances beyond his control is something you might only wish on your worst enemy. But them's the breaks.
It wouldn't matter if you're trying to win the Nobel Prize, Olympic gold, a Pulitzer, a Golden Globe, Top Gun, or the Emmy for Outstanding Personality/Event Analyst, there's no defeating the man. Just ask Drew Bledsoe what's like to have all your dreams destroyed by this one metahuman. The perfect specimen of manhood wanted the job Olsen was occupying. Were it anyone other than Tom flipping Brady, Olson would be doing the 4pm Packers at Lions or the premiere NFC East matchup every given week, then doing all the top seeds in the playoffs. But now he's demoted to life doing the 1pm game in Carolina or Arizona for the foreseeable future.
After all, if Vince Lombardi isn't safe, what chance does any mortal have?