Greg Olsen joked to Buccaneers’ Tom Brady that ‘this TV thing sucks’

Greg Olsen is at least able to joke about being replaced by Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady as lead NFL analyst for Fox Sports. 

For a piece published Tuesday, Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina mentioned how Fox play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt explained during an appearance on the “SI Media Podcast” how he and Olsen handled realizing Brady will eventually take Olsen’s job in the booth whenever the seven-time Super Bowl champion retires as an active player. The Burkhardt-Olsen team has been tasked with calling some Buccaneers games this season, and Olsen apparently had some fun during his first production meeting with Brady earlier in the campaign. 

“I can tell you one thing,” Burkhardt said about an interaction between his future partner and Olsen. “Some of the other stuff I’ll leave with us. When he came in, we’re just shooting the s— at first like you usually do before you start these meetings, and Greg said, and hopefully, he doesn’t mind me saying this, but he said, ‘Tom, I gotta tell you, this TV thing sucks.’ We were dying laughing. It was fun. We had a good back and forth.”

Olsen admitted this past spring that losing the main Fox job to Brady “sucks” but added at that time he “can live” with being replaced by the man viewed by many as the greatest quarterback and player in NFL history. However, Olsen later made it clear he wants to perform so well that he makes it “hard as hell” for Fox to give his chair to Brady. 

As for Brady’s future, there continue to be suggestions he could continue playing beyond the 2022 season either for the Buccaneers or a different team in need of a quarterback. Per Brandon Contes of Awful Announcing, ESPN’s Joe Buck recently said he knows “there are people at Fox who would say there’s a chance (Brady) doesn’t call a game there” even though the 45-year-old reportedly agreed to a 10-year deal worth $375 million with the network earlier this year. 

Also on Tuesday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio pointed out that Brady discussed making a transition to broadcasting during Monday’s edition of his “Let’s Go!” SiriusXM show and podcast.