Panthers TE Greg Olsen was in the booth yesterday calling Cardinals-Giants for Fox at MetLife Stadium, and during the broadcast he "made few mistakes and showed again he's likely to be a highly sought-after analyst once his playing days are done," according to Joseph Person of THE ATHLETIC. Working as a guest analyst alongside play-by-play man Kenny Albert, Olsen "offered viewers insights into schemes and tendencies, questioned Giants coach Pat Shurmur's fourth-quarter game management and had warmed up to the telestrator by the end" of the game. The online reviews of Olsen were "overwhelmingly positive." Albert said, "I don't think I've ever gotten that many texts or tweets during the game about an analyst that I was working with. And it was 99 percent positive." Olsen's first guest gig with Fox, when he called Rams-Vikings in '17, "created a bit of controversy." Vikings GM Rick Spielman "thought it was inappropriate to have Olsen work the game a few weeks before the Panthers and Vikings played, and tried unsuccessfully to have Olsen assigned to another game." Rubicon Talent's Peter Raskin, Olsen's marketing and media agent, said Olsen was "very careful in picking" yesterday's game. Mindful of "keeping a professional distance, Olsen did not participate in Fox's production meetings with players and coaches last week and stayed in the booth rather than go on the field before the game" (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/20).
TWITTER REAX: N.Y. Post's Mike Vaccaro: "Olsen is a natural as a broadcaster. Wow." NFL Network's Gregg Rosenthal: "Had to look up who this new, excellent ... announcer was on Giants-Cardinals. Greg Olsen getting it done during a bye week." ESPN's Mina Kimes: "Olsen is really good at this -- insightful, funny, and draws on his own experience when it's relevant." CBS Sports' Adam Aizer: "It's weird that Greg Olsen is broadcasting a game on his bye week, but he's good! He's got a future for sure." N.Y. Post's Brian Costello: "The best part of this Giants game has been listening to Greg Olsen. He is really good at this."
