Greg Olsen finds common ground with Tom Brady through youth sports
The association begins as they clash with one another, but it develops into a friendship.
"It's very similar to how we were with so many guys in the locker room, right?" Olsen tells USA TODAY Sports, "whether they're guys at your position group that you're competing with for time or guys on the offensive side of the ball that you're competing with for opportunities and targets and catches and plays in the game plan.
"Competition is at the center of everything at a high level. And anything that is competitive and anything that's worth doing is going to come with that level of competitive spirit."
When he retired after a 14-year NFL career as a three-time Pro Bowl tight end, Olsen, 40, quickly rose to Fox's No. 1 color commentator during games and worked Super Bowl 57 with Kevin Burkhardt between the Chiefs and Eagles on Feb. 12, 2023.
He was replaced by Brady as the network's top analyst to start the 2024 season. It stung but, Olsen says, the demotion didn't get in the way of the two learning more about each other when Brady arrived at the network.
"No different than some of my best friends that were teammates," Olsen says. "Yes, we were on the same team, but the better I do, I'm going to take more balls away from you and I'm going to get more playing time from you and you're trying to do the same thing to me, but that doesn't mean I want you to drop every pass and run the wrong route. That's a complete opposite of the nature of team that everyone's trying to build in this profession.
"Tom and I have had a really good both professional and now a personal relationship and prior to the last year, we didn't have a real deep personal (one) – we obviously, had played against each other a lot and had a ton of respect – but just getting to know him as a person, as a dad, as just a friend, we both have young teenage daughters, and we kind of share and laugh over stories about that, and then we're also both raising teenage sons, which is a whole different world."
When he retired, Olsen found himself like many of us with kids who play sports: Confused and even overwhelmed, He created the Youth Inc. podcast. He brought in famous athletes and coaches as well as medical experts and noted commentators in the youth sports space.
On Aug. 12, Olsen and his partners launched Youth Inc. , as a digital content and commerce platform built for youth sports families, coaches, and teams.
It debuts with a Brady interview, in which the two directly address their relationship publicly for the first time.
"As long as I'm cool with you, I know that's all that matters," Brady tells Olsen in the interview. "I'll be here for you for anything because you've been available to me."
USA TODAY Sports spoke with Olsen and co-founder Ryan Baise about Youth Inc.'s launch.
What is Youth Inc.?
Youth Inc. started in 2022 as a series of podcasts to which Olsen has brought his easygoing style and analytic football mind that breaks down complex schemes into simpler terms.
"I've been the first to say this podcast is not for us to tell everybody else how much we know and you need to do things the way we do it," Olsen says. "Listen, I'm along this journey and this learning process right alongside our listeners. I don't pretend to have all the answers."
With the help of a $4.5 million seed funding, the platform has expanded offerings, marketing itself as a one-stop shop for media content, merchandise and business services.
"The focus for us has not really been X's and O's content or coaching drills or things like that. We felt like there's good resources out there if you're going to look for that type of content," says Baise, who leads the organization's e-commerce initiative. "There's pros and cons in this youth sports world and the way that it's evolving, but fundamentally, at its core, we believe that there's nothing better than youth's sports for a child, as a parent, for society when done right."
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How has Youth Inc. changed?
While Youth Inc. will still offer podcasts – Malcolm Gladwell, Ryan Day, Bryce Young and Clayton Kershaw are part of the new season – it now offers an array of digital content. This author contributed to it earlier this year in an interview with Coach RAC, of Savannah Bananas fame, and his parents.
Coach RAC, who distills complicated baseball drills into friendly bite-sized social media nuggets for kids, is part of the spirit of the new movement.
"We have three pillars of the content: Information, inspiration, and then entertainment," Baise says.
Tim Murphy, a third founder who has worked at Audacy and The New York Times, has helped acquire content and expertise for the website. You can search by sport and topic (training and nutrition, mental health, parenting, coaching, tryouts etc.) to find written, audio and visual content.
"I spend a lot of time coaching and parenting and in the world of youth sports, running practices and games and managing teams and all that, and I still get a lot of the things wrong," Olsen says. "I still do things where I look back at the end of the day, of the week and I say I probably should have done that better or different or whatever the case may be. So I'm right along with our viewers and there's a curiosity that I have."
Baise, who worked for Fanatics, has brought in a fanwear space primarily for high schools and travel clubs.
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What did Tom Brady tell Greg Olsen's middle school team
When Brady was starting out as a broadcaster, Olsen offered him advice on the profession. Brady provided an inspirational message for Olsen's team this season.
Olsen coaches his two sons – Tate, 14, and T.J., 12 – for a Charlotte, North Carolina middle school. He also has a daughter, Talbot, who is TJ's twin.
"His message was that this is the highlight of your life," Olsen says. "Like these are the moments that you're gonna always remember playing football with your buddies for your school, with your parents and the town and your friends in the stands, playing the team from across town that you grew up playing. It's just the moments of playing for your school, in all sports, playing for your school is the best. It is just, it is so much more special than all the other travel ball and super teams and showcases where everybody's just a rent-a- player. Like, this is sports at its purest form."
What is Olsen's message to youth athletes and their parents
We know from his chat with Brady that the future Hall of Famer was a backup quarterback who didn't know how to put his pads on correctly. Little came easy, but he was always prepared because he says he knew how to compete.
It was an area of common ground the two found they shared.
"Continue to take a long-term approach," Olsen says. "And I think in today's day and age, it's so easy to be creatures of the moment and get caught up in the moment in time. And it's a snapshot of a really long journey. And I think for young kids, mine being in this group, they all view themselves where they are right now. Like, everyone is so worried about comparing to your peers in this moment in time, and especially for the young kids, what they don't realize is it's not a level playing field. Maturity and development and all of that stuff happens at very different paces for different kids, boys, girls, and then obviously within all of those divisions and age. So if everyone can just (know) the idea is to get better.
"Everyone's doing whatever they can to make that given all-star (team), that showcase, that Instagram reel, whatever that moment in time of success or failure becomes it becomes almost an indictment of labeling these kids of who they're going to be the rest of their life. And what we know is it's not a race to 12. It's not a race to who's the best sixth grader. It's just not the way sports works, even though at times it feels like it does.'
What are Olsen's future broadcasting plans?
Olsen will work games for Fox this season with the goal of getting back to a Super Bowl.
"I'm sure that's not unique to me," he says. "I'm sure every guy who gets a microphone at Fox, CBS, NBC, everybody wants to elevate to that next level.
"I didn't know a lot of things that I know now, and that was no different than when I was a player. That was no different (as) a broadcaster. And I'm sure Tom would say the same thing. His first year as a quarterback, he probably wasn't nearly as good as he was in year 20.
"Him being good doesn't make me bad. Me being good doesn't make him bad. It doesn't work like that. It's independent. We can both pursue excellence at our given career."
Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons' baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.
Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Greg Olsen, Tom Brady find common ground through youth sports
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