It's Obvious Why Networks Are High on Greg Olsen

Greg Olsen is on the call alongside Kevin Burkhardt for today's FOX XFL telecast of New York Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Vipers. We're not even through the second quarter yet, and it's already abundantly clear why Olsen has drawn interest from NFL broadcasting networks for when his playing career is done.

Olsen, who has called NFL games for FOX during Panthers' byes the past two seasons, is already a lot more adept at this than Jason Witten was at ESPN. Part of that can be attributable to it being harder to be in a three-man booth like Witten (technically, the Boogermobile was on the sidelines). Another part of it is that Olsen is just confident, concise, and crisp with his analysis.

Olsen is still undecided about whether he will play in the NFL next season or head to the broadcast booth, though he has consistently said he wants to play and has even had visits with multiple teams already. We previously reported that last year he could have plausibly been on an NFL announcer team with Joe Davis if he had not chosen to return to the Panthers.

On both FOX and ABC, the XFL production and broadcasters have done a really good job of making the games feel like they are major league. It's a noticeable uptick from CBS's AAF coverage last season, and it makes a difference. We'll see how viewership does both this weekend and throughout the season as it's no longer a novelty for casual observers.