Who is calling the Super Bowl this year?

Although there have been 35 quarterbacks who have won the Super Bowl, the number of commentators who have announced the game is less.

PHOENIX. Greg Olsen and his teammates at Wayne Hills High School in New Jersey realized it was a big game when Kevin Burkhardt showed up for an interview to prepare for a local radio show this weekend.

More than two decades later, Burckhardt and Olsen will be together in the booth of the season’s biggest football game.

They’ll call their first Super Bowl for Fox on Sunday when the Kansas City Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I mean, it’s crazy, the vicious circle of Kevin and I, from the moment it started when I was a 16-year-old schoolboy who was just happy that the guy from the local radio station wanted to cover his game,” said Olsen. “He was by my side all this time, and I am very grateful to him for this comfort and friendship. We all know it’s all about relationships and being around the people you like. I think that’s what makes this job so interesting.”

Burckhardt’s career began in North Jersey as the sports director of a tiny radio station, AM. He named some of Olsen’s games when he was a standout at Wayne Hills.

As Olsen ended a 15-year NFL career, he expressed interest in becoming an analyst when his playing days were over. His audition with Fox ended up being with Burkhardt.

In 2017, while playing for the Carolina Panthers, Olsen, along with Burckhardt and Charles Davis, were part of a three-man booth for a game when the Panthers had their last week.

Burkhardt and Olsen have completed five XFL games in 2020. Following Olsen’s 2021 retirement, he rejoined Burkhardt as Fox’s second team in NFL games.

When Joe Buck and Troy Aikman moved to ESPN’s Monday Night Football for the 2022 season, they moved on to Fox’s top team.

Fox Sports CEO and Executive Producer Eric Shanks is pleased with Burckhardt and Olsen’s performance this season.

“The most amazing thing about people like Greg is a kind of John Madden essence: you are a teacher and an analyst. If you have the ability to see what other people don’t see and explain it, that’s the perfect combination,” said Shanks.

Although there have been 35 quarterbacks who have won the Super Bowl, the number of commentators who have announced the game is less. Burckhardt becomes only the 12th person to perform play duty for the most watched television program each year. Al Michaels and Pat Summerall have the most with 11.

Burckhardt joins a group that includes Dick Enberg, Kurt Gowdy and Jim Nantz.

“I know how rare this is and how great an honor it is,” said Burkhardt. “I looked up to these guys as a child and even as an adult. I feel very lucky to be in this group and to be mentioned in the same breath.”

Burkhardt, who has been with Fox since 2013, said he and Olsen took the same approach during the week as they did, even when they were second team. The only changes were more spectators and cameras.

“Everything went smoothly not only in the game, but throughout the week,” said Burkhardt. “We’re talking about things and I’m poking around in his brain on certain ideas and it’s so easy.”

Erin Andrews said the move from Buck and Aikman to Burkhardt and Olsen gave the crew new energy.

“You can feel the excitement they have. We do the Cowboys-Packers at Lambeau Field and they start jumping around in the fourth quarter and Greg is like, “That’s amazing.” It was a big boost for all of us,” Andrews said.

Olsen, who became the 24th analyst to name the Super Bowl, has emerged as one of the top analysts despite working under pressure this season.

Last May, Fox announced that Tom Brady would become the network’s No. 1 analyst and team up with Burkhard after he retired.

Brady said last Monday that he would not start with Fox until the 2024 season, after he announced on Feb. 1 that he was ending his playing career for good.

The announcement came as a relief to Olsen and the rest of the team, as they will stay in place for one more season.

“Knowing that now we can get past this Sunday and move on to next season is a big relief for me and something I’m excited about,” Olsen said. “I will approach this game the same way I have for the whole year. You don’t know how many of these moments you’ll get. As a player, you never know how many Super Bowls you’ll get. We’ve had so many great moments this year, but they can be fleeting and fleeting.

“I’ll try to keep improving and just keep doing what we’re doing.”

Olsen said the biggest clue to Sunday’s game would be Kansas City trying to stop Philadelphia from getting ahead quickly. The Eagles have scored 12 times, including both playoff games.

“The beginning of the game tells us a lot. If I’m from Kansas City, then I have the best player in the world (Patrick Mahomes), but Philadelphia is such an aggressive team early on that you have to match or exceed them,” he said. “If the Chiefs fall behind, the Eagles will run at you and these pass rushers will come at you. They are built to play with the lead.”

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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