CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Greg Olsen has been like every other fan during the NFL playoffs — watching the games from his couch and firing off the occasional social media post with his observations.
It’s a strange place for Olsen, who’s gone from calling the playoff games for Fox — including the Kansas City Chiefs-Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl two years ago — to listening to Tom Brady break down the action. Olsen admits it was tough being relegated to Fox’s No. 2 broadcast crew this season following the arrival of Brady, who will join Kevin Burkhardt in the Fox booth in two weeks for the Chiefs-Eagles rematch in Super Bowl 59.
But Olsen said he harbors no bad feelings for Brady. Plus, the former Carolina Panthers tight end has plenty to keep him busy. He’s the coach of his son’s middle school team in Charlotte. Olsen also is preparing for the fourth annual “Ungala” — a charity dinner in support of his HEARTest Yard program, which supports families of children with congenital heart disease like the condition his other son TJ was born with in 2012.
Olsen spoke with The Athletic for 20 minutes Monday about topics ranging from Brady to Bryce Young to Luke Kuechly’s Hall of Fame chances to the Tush Push. Some answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Olsen on …
Bryce Young’s turnaround:
I had him in the Cowboy game, (which) wasn’t one of his better games since he took over. But the overall sample size when he took back over for Andy (Dalton), me and Luke would talk about it all the time: He just looks different. We can talk about his feet in the pocket and his release and his ability to scramble and avoid taking sacks and creating second-reaction plays. We can dive into all the play calls and the job that (Dave) Canales has done and the offensive line. There’s probably a million reasons. I think the No. 1 reason is he looked like he was back playing the style of ball he’s played his entire life.
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The Bryce we saw when he took back over is making those plays in the pocket. His feet are underneath him. He’s keeping his eyes downfield. I think he had a lot more confidence in the pass protection. The pocket was a little firmer because of adding those two big (guards) in free agency. It was all of those things, and it looked like Bryce from Alabama. You couldn’t sack him. He’s not Lamar Jackson, but nobody could get him on the ground. He’s creating second-level plays. He’s attacking the ball downfield. It’s not just swing screen, smoke screen, draw. There would be games last year where we wouldn’t see him throw the ball five yards downfield. He just looked more confident in himself, the scheme, the people around him.
I’m happy for him. He does it right. He’s a kid that I want my boys to look up to. I want them to model themselves (after). He could have quit. He could’ve gone in the tank. He could’ve folded. The bounce back that he took was one of the best stories in football. It represents everything we want to teach our kids about resiliency, just the ability to keep going.
Bryce Young threw three TD passes and ran for two in Carolina’s win against Atlanta in the final regular-season game. (Dale Zanine / Imagn Images)
A scenario in which the Panthers are a playoff team in 2025:
The model in which teams turn around is not very complicated. The teams that have turned around the quickest over the years — and Washington is the most recent example — you get really good leadership and you get a top-level, franchise quarterback, you can turn your team around very quickly. With the amount of talent that’s out there and the ability to get it through free agency and the draft, there’s just so many good players that if you have a good scouting department and you have a good ability to recognize talent — not everyone has to be a first-round pick. Not everyone has to be a $100 million free-agent signing. There are so many good players that if you can identify who they are and put them into a culture of development. You look at what Dan (Quinn) has done. You look at what (Sean) McVay’s done, (Matt) LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell. So can Dave Canales continue to build a culture, a locker room, an identity of excellence, of winning, of accountability? In the early (going), it looks like he has.
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And then everything’s a lot easier if you have a great quarterback. Free agents want to come play with you. You have more of an identity. Your margin for error is bigger when your quarterback is good. The formula is there. Now, is it easy to find Jayden Daniels or Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen? Of course not. But once you get one, if you can put that quarterback with good leadership from the top down, you start there. You’re gonna win a lot of games if you have those two things.
Resentment toward Brady and Fox:
I don’t think resentment’s probably accurate. But I also think it’s not too far off, if I’m being honest. I don’t have any ill will — there’s no personal resentment towards Tom, or obviously K.B. (Kevin Burkhardt) and Erin (Andrews). I still talk to all of them fairly regularly. I’m hoping to see them next week down in New Orleans and grab dinner or a drink and just kind of shoot the s—, catch up.
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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.” So you’re kinda driving yourself crazy with all these what-if scenarios as you’re watching the game. It’s very hard now to watch the games and just sit back and watch.
Calling top games:
It’s fun doing it every week and certain weeks are better than others. But after the last couple years, our real marquee moments were those playoff games and NFC championships. And obviously this rematch of the Super Bowl two years ago came right down to the wire and was one of the best Super Bowls of all time. My goal is to call top games. I’ve been very adamant about that over the last couple years. My goal is still to get back there. I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know where that takes place. But I’m continuing to work towards that goal and hopefully have the opportunity get back to calling these marquee games at some point.
The Hall of Fame candidacy of Luke Kuechly and other retired Panthers:
I think all of our hopes and belief that (Luke) should deservingly be as a first ballot. I told him we’re gonna have to cancel middle school practice to go to his Hall of Fame speech, which will be a little bit of a slight issue. We’re gonna have to work through that on the calendar. For Luke, it’s a no-brainer. He’s gonna be in. I think Steve (Smith) will get in at some point. To no fault of Steve, being on with Pep (Julius Peppers) last year kind of splits up some of the votes. And now being on with Luke. But I do think before all’s said and done, Steve gets in, too. Which is pretty cool — that all these guys from the same era of the Panthers are all in contention to be in it or be in it down the road.
Cam Newton’s candidacy and his own:
I’d rather other people break that case down. I think I live in a very realistic world, the position I played. We didn’t win that Super Bowl. The way my career ended, those last couple years were challenging from a health perspective. The years I had prior to that, that five- to six-year run was probably as good as anybody’s. I also played in an era where we had some really good (tight ends). So you’re Pro Bowls aren’t maybe where the other guys’ are, and you’re All-Pros. But you take a look at the guys that you’re losing All-Pro to and it’s guys (like Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce) that are gonna be first-ballot Hall of Famers.
You have to imagine Cam is going to be one of the more hot topics when it comes. You can make the argument that he played the quarterback position in a way that now almost everyone seems to play it. He really did it before anybody else was doing it consistently at a high level.
The Tush Push:
I’ve kind of gone back and forth on the Tush Push. Two years ago when Philadelphia was on their run to the Super Bowl, it caught steam because they were doing it at a level that nobody else (was). You saw (Sunday) night, for as big and as strong as Josh (Allen) is, they had some struggles and had the controversial spot on the one. But they got stopped a few times on the sneak. There was a lot of questions about, could they do it without Jason Kelce? And can (the Eagles) do it with Landon Dickerson instead of Cam Jurgens? It just kind of seems like they’ve got it figured out. So I always was a big supporter of it. It’s a big part of the philosophy of what Philadelphia wants to do. They almost start the possession like it’s first-and-8, first-and-8 1/2. So (banning) it would really disrupt the philosophy that have mastered the play and I don’t think you can punish them for being good at it.
What’s the @NFL record for most QB sneak attempts on championship weekend?
Feels like we’re close
— Greg Olsen (@gregolsen88) January 27, 2025
Now (Sunday) as a viewer watching the games, do we need 25? Between the two games, there had to be 20 quarterback sneaks. I said it kind of tongue in cheek, like I feel like we’re approaching a record. Is it the most aesthetically pleasing football? No. But is it super effective and a big part of a lot of these teams — especially with big, physical running quarterbacks? Yeah.
His son TJ’s involvement in the foundation:
It’s very different when they were just kids, when they would take pictures and then just go run around. I can see from all (three) of them, but especially T.J., he’s taken a lot more interest. He wants to know what programs we’re implementing? What things we’re doing for the other kids? What kids are we treating? TJ is our very curious mind, so he’s gonna ask 5,000 questions until you answer them all.
He’s gonna be a teenager this year, which is hard to believe and everything he’s been through. He’s really doing well, getting ready for baseball, feeling good. But we want them all to take ownership and a presence in the work that we do. We think it’s such a valuable lesson for them to learn about giving back and supporting the community. For TJ, he can really relate to what a lot of these kids and families are going through.
(Top photo of Olsen: Cindy Ord / Getty Images)
