FOX Sports’ Greg Olsen Talks Chiefs, Tight End U, Tom Brady & More with Rich Eisen | Full Interview

this man is uh one of the leaders of tight end University he is also the reigning Emmy Award winner for best game analist he is our friend Greg Olsen back here on the Rich Eisen show what's up Greg how are you doing great Rich what's happening man where's the Emmy right now Greg where is it oh well if I turned off the screen it's right behind me oh really oh but you oh you're branding I didn't mean I didn't mean trying to make sure that way I don't have to sit here and read off a b you know I can keep the interview natural you know what I mean no get it by the way this is a very nice sort of cartoon like who it's really good look at the Titan University it's t-shirts hats and backgrounds by with the sponsors in the back sponsors in the background we got bridgstone we got chan obviously the Chan berries right behind my head they're our sponsor like we got them all in there Rich we're professionals at T Craig alen Shameless at this we got to pay the bar bill you know we get Kelsey and KD and all these guys in town and down to you know going down downtown Nashville somebody's got to pay the bar bill you know bar Bill well I mean Kelsey can just pick that thing up let's be honest now right I mean he's a game show host Kelsey's gonna be game show host like he's giving away cash and prizes what the hell's going on with the tight end group man unbelievable Emmy Awards calling Super Bowls Dayton Dayton worldwide um you know famous people uh game show hosts K's KD I mean there we go there we go there's two [Music] he back to the back to the screen that was amazing of all the sponsors look at you I don't even know who you are anymore that's impressive stunting on them but seriously congratulations you are outstanding at the craft you work at it you're great at it that has to be immensely satisfying for you greig congrats for you well I appreciate it it's been fun it's been really cool you know it it's it's the next best thing to playing studying it continuing to see the trends where the game's going you I've told a bunch of coaches now you know being able to have you know production meetings with Shawn McVey and Bill bellich and you know up and down defensive coordinators offensive play callers you know a lot of guys that maybe when I was playing I saw the game from an offensive perspective and I studied you know my role and what on defense per you know maybe I wasn't studying all the defensive line stunts and how Gap you know all the different elements maybe that now when I'm having these convers ations with defensive coordinators secondary coaches offensive line coaches like my my kind of expansive knowledge about the game of football is probably even better now from just being exposed to the people I can talk to and pick their brain than maybe it was when I was even a player so like for me as just like a football junkie as somebody who's just loves the game and loves learning it and it's been so cool for me to just continue to study and follow where the game's going and try to be on the you know kind of the Leading Edge of that and present the game in a way that people find interesting I I've just really enjoyed it and um hope to keep doing it high highly successful at it and we'll we'll we'll return to that subject matter in a minute what what are you willing to share of what Kelsey might say to you about momes and their relationship because I'm trying to crack that code here man they they've reached other worldly status they've reached the status of you know we talked about Marino and Clayton and duper when I was a kid right um and you know um obviously Manning to Marvin Harrison and and Montana to Rice they they are now in that in that Pantheon Greg they really are 100% oh yeah they could go down as the best ever and and obviously all the guys you just mentioned I mean more in more recent terms obviously what grank and Brady did I mean there's there's a lot of really good tandems you know you know especially if you focus on just like tight end quarterback relationship but you know they when it's all said and done you know if if they can continue to do what they've shown no signs of slowing down doing they they could go down as the best group and you know the way the way I look at it and the reason that I appreciate it so much is because I the style in which they play was like a style that again I'm not saying I was Kelsey and me and cam but like that was our that was Cam and I's kind of style where you couldn't really draw the line on a piece of paper the route might look a little bit different each time you know Kelsey one time will run it at eight yards nine yards 12 yards and if you asked him like hey why'd you run your route like that he'd be like well because that's how I could get open like that's I just run where the defense is not and PS trusts me and throws me the ball like that relationship you can't coach you can't have all of your tight ends run their routes like that you can only ask guys who have a really close understanding they see the game through the same set of eyes as their quarterback and when that's happening in real time nothing that Travis is doing is catching Mahomes by surprise and vice versa like that comes with years that comes with experience that comes with spending a lot of time together talking things through and it's really hard for defenses to defend it like the way I try to explain it rich is like all week in practice somebody's wearing an 87 Jersey and it's like this is Kelce we need to guard him we know he's you know one of the best guys in the league and then it comes into the game and it's like well what's no one trying to guard him well yeah the route on Wednesday's practice that the scout team guy ran on that piece of paper card that the coach held up said run 14 yards make a left and catch a dig route well well when Kelsey does it he could run out in stop twirl and run his route at nine yards based on whatever the defense is doing and just get himself open like you can't practice against that you can't prepare for that like they are literally improvising to a degree on every single route he runs all within the confines of the concept to not Mis you know disrupt everybody else's routes that I can't stress to you like how special that is how hard it is is to emulate and and recreate that and defenses just have a really hard time defending optionality right just a lot of variance between routes and Concepts and end spots like you just can't defend every blade of grass and they are of all time they're in that mix as far as the best that have ever done it and that's saying a lot yeah I know and we're here on the cusp of June um so it's difficult to to give an answer to the question I'm about to ask but you know the the lane in which we're we're we're currently uh residing Sports Talk Radio and uh everybody has pretty much put their rosters together I mean here and there we might see a change but you pretty much post draft know who's where so the biggest obstacle to a threee for the Chiefs would be what or which team Greg right now man I tell you it's it seems like every time we leave them for dead you know we we called we've we had the pleasure of calling a bunch of their games over the last couple years and you know halfway through the season last year and every and the media the narrative was they're done they can't block their offensive line hasn't come together like they thought their offensive weapons Mahomes cannot carry them again with just Travis Kelce they never should have let Tyreek go two years ago like all of the even though they won the Super Bowl right right away like last year those narratives were starting to creep back like you can't just rely on Mahomes to be a magician he can't do it all himself and Andy Reid can only create so much and then as the year went on they got a little bit better a little bit better and then they found their groove so I think the only thing stopping them is them right I think as long as their best players are heavily engaged which they show no signs of not continuing to be committed to doing things at a high level committed to being professionals committing to being fear like as long as they got momes and Kelsey and Chris Jones and that I mean that young defense is off the charts that we can go on whole segment on just their ability to weather the defensive turnover win the Super Bowl with all those rookies two years ago and then all those guys in year two with spags arguably were the best defense in the league you know maybe in the top handful like for them to be able to do that so quickly and weather the storm was because of Andy Reid because they had Mahomes and he's like the ultimate eraser so like they have things that everyone else does doesn't have so they can kind of weather the ups and the Downs as long as Mahomes is there as long as Andy Reid is there as long as Kelsey's there and as long as that defense stays young and active and Spagnola is blitzing guys from all over the place come next year in the AFC doesn't matter who the fun team is who the story when it comes down until proven otherwise the AFC goes through Kansas City and it's going to be that way as as long as all those guys are still wearing Chief's uniforms and obviously still playing at a high level you may be right Greg because um I mean in terms of narratives you're already hearing the creep in about um uh also uh who who Mahomes going to throw to this year and in terms of stopping themselves I mean Rasheed rice needed to stop himself from speeding right or whatever's going on with him in his life to be honest with you and now it's Hollywood Brown in that spot can he be that guy uh they if rasid rice is not going to be available even for parts of the season um what about their new rookie that they drafted in Xavier worthy right I mean we're already in that mode right now now um and distractions things of that nature Harrison bucker being clearly one of them these are the things you're already talking about but we're not playing games games start you look at their schedule I mean holy crap right Ravens at home Bengals at home you want to talk about teams that could potentially mess up their three Pete those are two that right off the bat then they're at Atlanta at the Chargers you know Harbaugh's back in the mix here they've got home for New Orleans a buy at San Francisco Vegas loves would love to basically say hey we picked up your confetti here in this building but it's a whole new world right Baker Denver at Buffalo so on and so forth uh and then you got the whole concept of all those short weeks they play on every day of the week except Tuesday this coming year yeah it's going to be something it really is going to be something Greg yeah and remember the the fact that they have had the success that they had right when you talk about especially in recent years right the Patriots the Chiefs like in in in this era of football when these teams put on this prolonged period of success yes they are doing it in spite of every single rule and every single institution of the NFL they are doing it in spite of everything that's in place right you are not supposed to win for a long period of time because you're supposed to lose all your good players to free agency you're not supposed to keep your coordin because they're going to get head coaches because the more success you have the more attrition your coaching staff has the better you are you play all the division winners from the previous year in your in your division in your you know out of division games so you play a harder schedule you play more playoff teams right like every you get the lower draft picks I mean across the board everything in the NFL is designed for the really successful teams to fall back to the me to the middle and for the really bad teams to climb themselves up and just put everybody in that middle tier so for them to continue overcome all of those processes put in place and just continue to win in spite of turnover at the offensive weapons every single year you know mostly at wide out in spite of two years ago when they won the Super Bowl against Philly doing it with like seven rookie starters on defense who then oh my God in year two these guys are Flatout stars and their defense is now carrying the team while the offense kind of found their way there in the middle of the season when they were struggling like they are able to weather things that most teams cannot because they have continuity at the most important spots head coach and quarterback when those two spots are stable consistent and and obviously Elite at what they do you have a lot more freedom and flexibility to struggle on offense because the defense can pick you up and struggle on defense and break in some new guys like not every team has the ability to weather those storms that's why you see teams good and then fall off the face of the Earth and then a team that was bad have a real flash in the Jaan make a run to the playoffs and then the next year they fall out like the NFL is designed for that so the fact that the Chiefs can continue to weather all these obstacles storylines Prime Time games every week different days different schedules dur is only because of the people we've talked about this whole interview and that's the advantage that they have that's inherent that the other teams don't have for sure Greg Olsson here on the Rich Eisen show all right in the few minutes we have left here tight end University year four three days event Nashville Tennessee June 17th through the 20th how many guys you expecting to come to te yes so last year we had about 85 so I would say we're going to be give or take in that same 80s range that's probably about the most we can handle and you know I think the coolest thing about the weekend is you know we we put the whole event on I know we joked before about the sponsors but again in all seriousness if it's not for Bridgestone and and charman and Bud Light and like we wouldn't be able to host 85 NFL players bust them to practice put them up in on their given team and that's the beauty of it all it's not just bringing a bunch of Hall of Fame pro bowlers in to just tell each other how good they are no it's the sharing of knowledge the growth of the position the evolution of the position that we've all reaped the benefits of and we think it's super cool to kind of pay that pay that forward to the guys that are going to be the next generation of really good players and it's fun to see you know Kyle pittz two years ago as a rookie come and Dalton concade last year and you know hopefully this year with Bowers like just each year that next guy that next class of you know highly sought after guys are you going to be the next Kelsey are you going to be the next KD well it doesn't just happen let's tell you firsthand what goes into these guys having the success that they do and then the question is are you willing to do it yeah Sam leaport too right obviously land lasta I there so he was at our camp last year we can go on it's just a really cool collection of guys yeah no doubt about it uh for sure and again that's coming up uh later on uh next month 17th through 20th of June Levis and Gatorade or some of your other sponsors and don't want you to leave them out as well I mean they're on there dude you're like a NASCAR Hood right now I mean that's what you look like uh but it's all good it's all good there you go now perfect perfect timing though no no leave it leave it for this moment with your Emmys behind you because I I I do want to get to your broadcasting career a little bit so you're with Joe Davis's crew coming up this fall yeah the Joe Davis so it'll be you and Joe Davis is it just the two of you or is it the third man or in the booth or what's the plan just the two yeah PL just the two of us obviously Pam Oliver Legend is our sideline reporter so this was the crew that I was with with burkart um back in 2021 my first year doing it 2021 so p mesca and Ry my producer directed P director Pam was our sideline it was me and Burkhart in the booth together um and then obviously we when we moved up um Joe worked with Daryl so I've worked with Joe before when again probably too much information but when they go do when burkart would have to go do baseball back in 21 um they would have to like rotate guys to fill his seat because he went and did the World Series sure so I did a couple games with Joe so I know Joe I've worked with Joe he's obviously awesome at what he does whether it's baseball World Series or playoff games or calling NFL games he's just good at everything he does so I have a good rapport with Joe he's a guy that I've worked with firsthand so um excited to get back with that crew of course you know and and I'm but I'm glad you did get get that deep there Greg because I want people to understand the our business because clearly you know doing the if you will aame and calling Super Bowls that is what we all ascribed to do if we're being an announcer and the idea that you're not doing that because Tom Brady is doing that now with Burkhart and you're with this crew having this conversation of like your thoughts on not doing those assignments anymore after having just won the Emmy for it is infused with potentially uh insulting the people you just talked about you know what I mean like you're you're you work with people you adore and love and have known and whatever who work their asses off to make these games as good as anything else they don't care about a game B game c game uh honestly but you know that is the conversation that is that that is surrounding you is that you're now with this crew having done the games that are seen in front of most of the country and and I'm wondering what goes through your mind right now certainly having won the Emmy you have reached the Pinnacle Greg yeah so there I think you're spoton right there there's two separate elements to this and I and I'm always I always make sure that I'm very clear with like how I present it just out of respect everything you just said is spot on like right my excitement to go call games with Joe Davis and and Pam Oliver and P and Ry in the truck and and our entire crew like this is a world class crew like on paper you know obviously every headline is olsson's demoted Olsson loses like on on paper I don't care about any of that like this is a worldclass NFL production crew they've been doing this for way longer than I've been doing it they've been doing this longer than before I was even in the NFL at all right so like I don't look at this as like I'm going to an inferior crew it it is that couldn't be further from the truth right that's one element of this and and I've had great with them making plans for the season then the other element of that is completely separate from everything you want to call Super Bowls you want to be on the a crew you want to be a crew top crew whatever the hell we call it you want to call Super Bowls I want to call NFC championships with 60 million people I want to call Super Bowls with 112 million people I want those Spotlight games I want to present the only game on television you're tuning in and my voice our crew voice is laying out how this game's going to unfold the scenarios the possibilities the trends hey here's how they're going to come in what are the adjustments like unpacking a live NFL game is about as fun I mean you know firsthand it's about as fun as it gets right the the unpredictability and the excitement and the thinking on the Fly and having to do it in a relatively seamless way to present to the country I've really enjoyed that challenge so yes do i do I want to call Super Bowls 100% do I am I content just being a part of the show and I've said this before like I'm not just happy to be a part am I thankful for my job yes am I thankful to be with an amazing crew this year of course this has nothing to do with them my aspirations have never changed just because now that I've done it for the last two years and called the top game my aspirations are even more clear like I want to call top games I want to call Super Bowls I want to call the game where the entire country Tunes in like no different than as a player those are the ones you live for those are the ones that you want that pressure you want that magnifying glass you want quitter going bananas hopefully good if not you know not disaster but like I love that like that's what you strive for and I'm committed to that path now more than ever I understand the situation that I'm in not going to sit here and say I'm thrilled and I'm like doing jumping jacks over it but I'm a grown man like I understand what I signed up for I understand the world that we live in and some things don't necessarily always go your way but I'm confident that if I can just keep doing what I've been doing I have a great crew to do with who continue to make me look better than I am can I get back there one day I I absolutely and when that is where that is on what time frame who knows but I'm more committed to making that a reality now than at any point in my early career of doing this and you've got the you've got the want to the can do and then just if you need any sort of uh actual material Bobble to point it out the winged lady behind you uh is is definitely proof of that Greg uh I couldn't be happier for you truly you're one of my favorites man I appreciate it you are one of my favorites you're great no same same here and I've got Joe Davis coming in next month too I'll be chatting with him about this very subject matter and so much more and I appreciate the time uh say hi to all my friends at tight end University sir we'll do thanks so much man great to be on apprciate you do you want to put your background up one more time get in you know just there we go okay there it is hey now they've got graphics sponsors got toilet paper be here they got it all man look at them tires good Lord uh take care Greg thanks for the time man appreciate it thanks guys great Greg olssen here in the rich eyes catch the rich eyes and show every single day on the Roku Channel 12 to 3 Eastern for free