Tom Brady has a problem. And, until Brady resolves it, Fox has a Tom Brady problem.
The solution might be staring everyone right in the face.
The league’s extreme restrictions — effective right now — on Brady’s access to all teams other than the Raiders seems to be calculated to force him to choose between buying a piece of the Raiders and working as Fox’s top broadcaster for NFL games. But if he still wants to do both, there’s a possible solution that allows him to have his football cake and eat it.
The answer is a three-person crew. Call up Greg Olsen.
Olsen, a two-time Emmy winner in his category, wants to be part of the biggest and best games. He’s earned it. And Olsen recently told Derek Futterman of BarrettSportsMedia.com that he’s not opposed to joining the Brady/Kevin Burkhardt booth.
“I think that’s a conversation that if it was something that was even on the table, we would have definitely leaned into and considered and talked through what the mechanics and the situation of that looks like,” Olsen said. “I’m not one to just close doors without at least knowing what’s behind them. So yeah, that’s not something I would have been opposed to by any stretch. It just never was worth much consideration just because it was never really a possibility.”
Maybe it could be. If Brady is willing to share the mic (and the spotlight), Olsen could give analysis based on the access he’ll have and Brady could approach things from a different, access-free perspective.
It really does require selflessness to make a three-person booth work. No one in a two-person operation wants to inject a third voice, since it cuts into the available talking time for the two people already there.
Still, the best booth of all time had three people (Gifford, Meredith, Cosell). And Brady, Olsen, and Burkhardt could be pretty good.
Really, if Brady is too selfish to pick a lane between owner and broadcaster, he should be selfless about inviting Olsen in. With Brady necessarily being less prepared without access, Olsen’s presence would make sure the audience is being properly served.
If Brady cares about the audience. If he does, he’ll either choose between the Raiders and Fox — or he’ll invite Olsen to pull up a chair and put on a headset. If he doesn’t, he’ll try to call games without having the benefit of information and insights that every other NFL broadcaster always has.