The 47th Sports Emmy stage delivered yet another awkward moment for Fox Sports on Tuesday. While the network’s lead NFL booth belongs to Tom Brady, the hardware actually went to Greg Olson, the man he displaced. The lopsidedness of this had the NFL world wasting no time in weighing in with reactions across social media.
NFL World Reacts As Greg Olsen Wins Another Emmy Award Over Tom Brady
A familiar storyline played out at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Greg Olson, who’s actually Tom Brady’s No. 2, beat the latter for the Outstanding Personality/Event Analyst award.
.@FOXSports proudly congratulates @NFLonFOX analyst @gregolsen88, recipient of the #SportsEmmys Award for Outstanding Personality – Event Analyst! 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/IyUcLT890x
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) May 27, 2026
Seeing the irony here, voices across the NFL world paraded X, with almost everyone landing on the same conclusion — not the award, but Olsen.
Michael Rodnick had a brief but straightforward take. “Brady has improved in his second year but Olsen is still the better analyst.”
He even shared an old clip of Olsen speaking on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, where he explained how he holds “zero animosity” towards Brady and viewed his own career growth as independent of him. “My ascension, individually, does not have to come at the expense of him. It does not have to come in animosity towards him. If he has a long career in the industry, so can I,” Olsen said in that clip.
Brady has improved in his second year but Olsen is still the better analyst.
Good interview with @BussinWTB here where Greg talks about his relationship with Tom before last season. https://t.co/oFXrFr8cZP pic.twitter.com/3NaNK0xI9n
— Michael Rodnick (@MJRodnick) May 27, 2026
Alex Coll of The Collumn Pod found the result satisfying. “Cool situation. Olsen is Fox Sports’ No. 2 guy. He beat out Fox’s No. 1 guy, Tom Brady… who took his job a few years ago. Brady’s popularity/marketability shouldn’t come at Olsen’s expense…Love that the voters didn’t favor the corp. hierarchy. Olsen is the better voice, anyway,” Coll wrote.
Former NFL Executive Upton Bell kept his take to one sentence. “Greg Olson is much better than Tom Brady,” he posted.
Greg Olson is much better than Tom Brady https://t.co/d0PSBX7giS
— Upton Bell (@uptonbell) May 27, 2026
Another user split the difference, conceding Brady’s stature on the field while still siding with Olsen at the mic. “Tom Brady is the GOAT of the NFL, but Greg Olsen is the GOAT of current NFL Analysts. Anybody who listens to those games, knows Greg earned that Emmy fair and square, with outstanding coverage. TB definitely improved this season, but Greg Olsen is just special on that mic,” they wrote.
FSU Baseball radio host Eric Luallen echoed the verdict with similar bluntness. “Greg Olsen is far better than Tom Brady. It’s not really close at all.”
Greg Olsen is far better than Tom Brady. It’s not really close at all. https://t.co/GjAUDXXQnS
— Eric Luallen (@EricLuallen) May 27, 2026
Olsen now holds the Outstanding Personality award two years running, with three Sports Emmys overall, and a fourth straight nomination. His first career Sports Emmy was awarded in 2023 in the Outstanding Emerging On-Air Talent category
Brady, who was nominated this year, lost out for the second time since arriving at Fox.
The backstory here is what makes Olsen’s second Emmy even more interesting. Both Olsen and Kevin Burkhardt called Super Bowl 57 on Fox’s No. 1 crew before the network paid Brady $375 million over 10 years to take that seat in 2024.
Olsen was bumped down to the second team, along with Joe Davis, and his salary reportedly dropped from $10 million to $3 million in the process.
Olsen has rarely hidden his frustration over this demotion, even as he has gone out of his way to praise Brady personally.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
Speaking to Marty Smith last year, he said this decision caused him a massive ego hit. “In the moment, is your ego hit? Sure,” Olsen said. “When you have a young driver come join Hendrick Motorsports, are you going to be supportive? Of course. Do you want him to beat you in the Coca-Cola 600? Hell no.”
With just two years left on his Fox deal, Olsen has positioned himself as the most coveted broadcast free agent on the horizon. While the top chairs across the industry are largely locked up, this leaves Amazon’s Prime Video Thursday Night Football booth, anchored by Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit, as the most plausible landing spot. That is, if Michaels eventually steps back from his year-to-year deal.
