1. “Fine. Bench me. But I’m gonna make it hard as s— for you to bench me.
That was Fox NFL analyst Greg Olsen on them IS Media Podcast a little over a month ago, talking about the prospect of Tom Brady replacing him in the pit whenever the legendary quarterback retires.
After two weeks of the NFL playoffs, Olsen is clearly going to make it “hard as s—” for Fox to bench him.
Even though we’re working with a small sample of games, Olsen had a stellar playoff run and set himself up to win even more viewers with Fox’s broadcast of this year’s Super Bowl.
Olsen really showed his mettle in the final three minutes of the Niners’ win over the Cowboys on Sunday. Most analysts fail late in games because they don’t understand clock management and timing strategy. Olsen, meanwhile, couldn’t have known more about it all.
As the Cowboys completed their final practice of the game, Olsen pointed out after a near-midfield completion that even though Dallas tight end Dalton Schultz had gone out of bounds, the clock had not stopped, as he was not advancing when he struck. the sideline. Olsen also faulted Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy and the Dallas players for not scrambling more before a late punt to save time on the clock. And at his best, Olsen pointed out that McCarthy needed to call his timeouts before, not after the two-minute warning — a practice tactic that most NFL analysts (and coaches) get wrong.
Whether someone likes a diffuser is completely subjective. My two main criteria for anyone in the booth are (1) Don’t annoy me; (2) adopt the right strategy. Olsen is two for two.
It’s also just a very easy listen. He doesn’t exaggerate, he doesn’t try to act like the public is stupid and he’s a footballing genius and he’s not afraid to criticize players and coaches.
If anything, I would love to see a bit more of Olsen’s personality. At one point during the Dallas-San Francisco game, Olsen’s partner Kevin Burkhardt revealed that Olsen sang Rihanna songs during one of their road trips over the weekend. I was very curious to hear the Rihanna songs that Olsen played on. I also would have liked to hear Olsen drop a few bars, but I can understand why that might have been a bit too much for some viewers.
Here’s the craziest thing about Olsen: He’s only been doing this for two seasons. Tony Romo has been a senior analyst for six seasons. Cris Collinsworth has been a senior analyst for 20 years and Troy Aikman has been a senior analyst for 21 seasons. Olsen is already very, very good, and he will only get better.
That’s where the Brady conundrum comes in. If the GOAT decides he’s done with football, he has a $375 million deal with Fox calling him to become its #1 analyst.
Will the emergence of Olsen force Fox to opt for a stand for three people? Could Fox put Brady in the studio and make him part of Fox NFL Sunday?
I think at this point Fox should get Brady to join Burkhardt and Olsen. If Fox demoted Olsen, who is becoming a fan favorite, for Brady, the network would set up Brady to face a major backlash.
Here’s what else Olsen said during that IS Media Podcast appearance:
“Fox believed in me more than any other network. Some of the other networks, we kind of danced around, and there was some interest, but nobody likes Fox. So I have nothing but good things to say about any my experience with the folks at Fox. I hope to work with them for the next 20 years. I just hope it’s with the A-crew.
It’s hard to imagine at this point, especially if he has a super Super Bowl, that Fox could remove Olsen from the A-crew.
2. Dak Prescott was the subject of many harsh tweets on Sunday after throwing two interceptions in Dallas’ loss to San Francisco, including from the COWBOYS SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM!
3. I was stunned that not more was said on Sunday about Niners kicker Robbie Gould, who saved his team’s lead in the fourth quarter by simply turning his body into a Cowboys kick returner. , KaVontae Turpin, who was on his way to an equalizing TD. It’s crazy that it was the “tackle” that took down Turpin.
4. You know the old adage “betting doesn’t pay”? Don’t tell that guy who turned $5 into over $72,000 this weekend by correctly predicting the first touchdown scorer in all four playoff games.
5. Is this a way for Travis Kelce to treat the best quarterback in the NFL?
6. The last IS Media Podcast features a conversation with former Super Bowl champion and current podcast host Chris Long.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it at Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the IS Media Podcast on Youtube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: The Royal Rumble is this Saturday and as one of WWE’s signature pay-per-views, the event has had many memorable moments over the years. All week, I’m going to feature a few of them here. Today we start with the biggest Royal Rumble enter and exit never.
Make sure you catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, instagram and ICT Tac.