Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion, is set to join Fox Sports’ top NFL team in the broadcast booth, while Greg Olsen, the current top analyst, is leaving with another Sports Emmy award.
Olsen, who was named Outstanding Emerging On-Air Talent last year, took home the award for top Event Analyst during the three-hour ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York.
In his acceptance speech, Olsen expressed his love for talking about football and his commitment to the game, stating, “I don’t know what the future holds. All I know is I love talking football, I love talking ball. I love studying it, I love seeing where the game is going, wherever that takes me, whatever level it is. I’m more committed to the game of football now.”
Olsen moved into Fox’s top analyst spot after Troy Aikman left for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” and quickly earned rave reviews for his work. Despite the anticipation of Brady’s arrival in the booth, which was originally thought to be for the 2023 season but was later postponed to 2024, Olsen continued to excel in his role.
The Sports Emmys also recognized several other notable achievements in sports broadcasting. CBS’ coverage of Super Bowl 58 and “Toy Story Funday Football,” an alternate presentation of the Oct. 1 game between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars on Disney+/ESPN+, won three Emmys each. ESPN/ABC’s Mike Breen won Play-by-Play for the third straight year, while Tracy Wolfson of CBS took Outstanding Reporter for the first time.
Turner Sports’ Ernie Johnson Jr. was named top Studio Host for the seventh time, and Charles Barkley took his fourth Sports Emmy as top Studio Analyst. NBC’s Noah Eagle, who also did the Nickelodeon alternate broadcast of Super Bowl 58, was this year’s Emerging On-Air Talent.
The ceremony also honored CBS’ James Brown with the Lifetime Achievement Emmy. In his introduction, Sean McManus, who recently retired as CBS Sports’ chairman, paid Brown the greatest compliment by saying he reminded him of his father, the late Hall of Fame announcer Jim McKay.
Brown humbly accepted the award, emphasizing that it was not about him but about the exceptional talent he had worked with throughout his career, stating, “This award is absolutely not about me. … I’ve truly worked with some exceptional talent and my focus has always been to ensure that their talent and insight was showcased.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.