CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ In what almost certainly will be a glimpse into Greg Olsen's future, the Carolina Panthers' All-Pro tight end will use the team's bye week to return to the TV booth for the Oct. 20 matchup between the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals.
As part of his Week 7 assignment _ his second with Fox Sports _ Olsen will work with veteran announcer Kenny Albert and reporter Lindsay Czarniak in East Rutherford, N.J., the network said Tuesday.
Olsen was rumored to be a candidate to join the "Monday Night Football" broadcast team for ESPN as early as this season. Instead, Olsen decided to play on, telling the Observer in May that he considered retirement, but did not want to end his career after losing most of two seasons to a bad foot.
"That's always your rash decision," Olsen said. "You're exhausted. You're tired of going through it. You're tired of hurting."
But then he reconsidered. "I think once you make it through that initial pity party," he said, "you think you've worked too hard, you've done too much and you've played too long to go out
like that."
Olsen's contract with Carolina runs through the 2020 season. He has long expressed interest in a broadcasting career after he leaves the NFL.
The New Jersey native joined ESPN's "Postseason NFL Countdown" show in Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII, his second consecutive Super Bowl Sunday guest broadcast, and he helped call a game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams (he was on injured reserve at the time) for Fox in 2017.
The reviews were glowing. USA Today ran a story entitled: "The NFL's most promising color analyst plays tight end for the Panthers."
