The musical chairs of NFL broadcasting has been intense this offseason, with legends changing networks after decades-long tenures and new faces joining the cast of the league’s top voices. The last remaining top slot was FOX Sports’ number one color commentator. Per the network, former legendary tight end Greg Olsen will join play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt and sideline reporters Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi to round out FOX’s lead crew. Tom Brady’s historic $375 million contract has him set to replace Olsen whenever it is that Brady chooses to actually retire (which, as all know, could just as easily be 2032 as it could be 2023).
FOX’s top booth opened up after longtime duo Joe Buck and Troy Aikman departed for ESPN’s Monday Night Football. Steve Levy, Louis Riddick, and Bob Greise had been ESPN’s lead team during the 2021 season.
In other broadcasting news, titan of the industry Al Michaels took the leap into the world of streaming, joining Amazon’s new primetime Thursday Night Football slot and leaving NBC after over 15 years of calling Sunday Night Football for the network. He is joined at Amazon by college football giant Kirk Herbstreit, who will serve as color commentator on Thursday nights in addition to his Saturday College GameDay duties at ESPN. Michaels’ NBC color commentator counterpart of 12 years, Cris Colinsworth, will be joined by veteran play-by-play voice and host Mike Tirico, who has hosted NBC’s Football Night in America since 2017. CBS is the only network to see complete consistency in its top broadcasting team, as the beloved duo of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo are set to continue their successful partnership into the foreseeable future.
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