Greg Olsen nailed Super Bowl’s crucial play — and now the pressure is on Tom Brady
After Sunday night, there is now a difference between Fox Sports’ Greg Olsen and Tom Brady, the man contracted to ta𒈔ke his job.
Olsen has earned the No. 1 position as the network’s top game analyst, while Brady has been given it with a 10-year, $375 million contract.
Where that all ends up will be intriguing, but Olsen has done his job to put the pressure on the most acco♑mplished football player of all time.
Olsen and his play-by-player parཧtner Kevin Burkhardt were rookie Super Bowl callers Sunday night after Fox stalwarts, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, left last year fo♋r the riches of ESPN and “Monday Night Football” during the craziest sports TV offseason in history.
The wisdom of allowing maybe the best broadcast team in the game to flee was al🌱ways going👍 to be judged by Feb. 12, with Fox having the Super Bowl.
At the end of what might become the most watched Super Bowl in history with potentially more than 115 million viewers, Burkhardt and Olsen nailed the most crucial play of the game, the third-and-8 from the Eagles’ 15.
With less than two minutes remaining, Burkhardt said, “[Patrick] Mahomes … pressure … lofting one … end zone … incomplete … Juju Smith-Schuster couldn’t catch up.”
And then with amazement of the 𝔍Super Bowl-deciding call, Burkhardt exclaimed, “There is a flag at the 10! Hang on, there’s a penalty.”
After the official announc൩ed holding on the Eagles’ defensive back James Bradberry, Fox showed a replay and Ols𒁃en shined.
The ana🎃lyst’s job here is to understand 💃the storyline and, if it calls for it, give a clear opinion. Olsen immediately said he thought the call was too minor to make at such a crucial point in the game.
“I don’t love that call,” Olsen said.
On the next play, realizing the clock situation, the Eagles were trying to let Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon score, Olsen sounded desperate, knowing it would be a bonehead m🧸ove for McKinnon to take the bait and score.
“He’s got to get down!꧒” Olsen 💜said. “He’s got to get down.”
McKinnon did get down, sliding in at the 1. Kansas City would hit a game-deciding field with seconds remaining. And the Chiefs, Burkhardt and Olsen — two Jersey boys — were champions for the night.
Of the 57🧸 Super Bowls, Burhardt, 48, who grew up in Bloomfield, became ju💃st the 12th person to call one on network TV.
Olsen, just 37 and from Wayne, has had an incredi𒅌ble rise in broadcasting.
Olsen studied for the test and it showed. When the Eagles continually ran on third down, Olse💜n noted they did that more than anyone in the league because they consistently go for it on fourth down.
The biggest criticism Olsen receives is that he talks too much, but this is partly 🔯due to the fact that Burkhardt is an unselfish play-by-player, allowing space for his analyst.
Burkhardt doesn’t say much pre-snap and gets out pretty quickly after 🔯the play, allowing Olsen to expand.
While Burkhardt was swallowing his words a little early, he and Olsen found their balance quickly, chronicling the game and sounded as if theyಞ were in their 2൩0th year together, not their second. There was symmetry.
In the first quar𓃲ter, on the Chiefs’ touchdown to tie the game at 7-7, right before the snap, Olsen said, “[Travis] Kelce’s comes in with a little motion”
Bur🌠khardt picked u༺p the lead, building off Olsen by saying, “Mahomes looking that way … throwing that way … Kelce’s got it … Touchdown!”
While Fox may not have Buck and Aikman anymore, it still has its longtime producer-director team of Richie Zyontz and Rich Russo. When Fox returned from commercial, the videoof the TD was cued up, and Olsen showed how the short motion resulted in safety Marcus Epps — instead of All-Pro corner Darius Slay — covering Kelce instead. It w𝕴as excellent.
W🔯hen you look at it, Olsen as a broadcaster has done what Brady did as a player — Olsen has earned everything he has gotten and came up huge in the biggest of games.
Fox has the Super Bowl again the year after🐻 next season. If Brady goes through with his contract, he will end his rookie broadcasting year, analyzing the biggest game. If Brady does call Super Bowl 59, he will do so with Olsen’s shadow hanging over him.
