Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
By Sam Neumann on

There’s no better announcer in the National Football League at explaining concepts than Greg Olsen. Not just concepts, but why a team chose to go for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 40, or why, in Sunday’s game, he has the capacity to understand why a very obvious penalty is not actually a penalty.

The pairing of him and Joe Davis calling an international Steelers-Vikings game was already appealing, but having an analyst who can actually explain the game to a broad audience made it even better. And the former Carolina Panthers tight end delivered exactly that on Sunday morning.

With great detail, he explained why the Steelers sending Ben Skowronek in motion, even though it was a “small thing,” led to a DK Metcalf 80-yard touchdown.

Again, Olsen noted why “something small” like Jalen Ramsey alerting the Steelers defense pre-snap to “guard the sticks” led to a Carson Wentz interception.

As The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand noted, Olsen, later in the game, had the wherewithal to explain to viewers why Jalen Redmond’s sack of Aaron Rodgers, which was a textbook horse collar tackle, will not be called as such when the quarterback is in the pocket.

“Now, again, everyone’s looking at home, saying, ‘Alright, that’s a horse collar.’ Does not apply to the quarterback inside the pocket, so that’s a legal tackle,” Olsen noted.

Then, there was Olsen again, providing analysis on what caused a Jalen Ramsey penalty just ahead of halftime on a Vikings field goal try.

And for good measure, he explained in great detail why the Steelers taking a delay of game penalty instead of going for it on fourth down was a bad process play, even if the outcome ended up leading to a Steelers’ win, which it did.

The key here is that Olsen doesn’t just see what happened; he sees what viewers are confused about. Take that horse collar tackle on Rodgers. Most analysts would either ignore it completely or mention it in passing. Olsen immediately addresses what everyone at home is thinking: “That looked like a penalty, why wasn’t it called?” He doesn’t assume you know the pocket exception to the rule.

Same thing with the pre-snap motion creating the Metcalf touchdown. It’s easy to say “great play design” and move on. Olsen actually walks through how a small shift creates a big play because he knows that connection isn’t obvious to most viewers. He treats the audience like they want to learn, not like they should already know.

And then there’s his willingness to criticize the process even when the outcome works.

Olsen’s secret isn’t that he played tight end for 14 years. It’s that he remembers what it was like to not understand football. Most analysts react to plays. Olsen anticipates them. He’s explaining the setup before the payoff, which is why his breakdowns feel like education instead of hindsight. And he’s not afraid to get granular about stuff that seems minor, like why taking a delay of the game instead of going for it was a bad process, regardless of how it worked out.

That’s what makes him different. He’s not trying to prove he belongs in the booth. He’s just explaining what happened and why it matters, which turns out to be exactly what good analysis should sound like.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann