NEW ORLEANS — Greg Olsen told Front Office Sports on Thursday his comments to The Charlotte Observer about wanting to call great games have been “manipulated and misconstrued.” He says he’s grateful for the opportunities given him by Fox.

At the same time, he is not retreating or apologizing for wanting to be the top dog.

“I’ve called a Super Bowl once, I want to call them again. That should not be earth-shattering, headline news for anyone,” Olsen said. “My aspirations of taking this from Day One back in 2021 when I started to today have not changed. I want to call great games.”

But he continued, “My personal aspirations are completely independent and disconnected from my relationship with Fox. My relationship with Fox, and Tom [Brady], and Erin [Burnett], and [Kevin Burkhardt], those are my friends and I want to see them succeed.”

As for Fox, he said, “My relationship with Fox is positive. They know where I stand. They’ve encouraged me to have high aspirations. They’ve encouraged me to try to be as good as I possibly can. So I think some of my comments about wanting to call top games, wherever that is and however that plays out, come across that I want to leave Fox and I hate Fox. That is not true. I’m on the record right now, and I probably need to do a better job communicating … no resentment or animosity towards the people at Fox.”

The 39-year-old Olsen’s recent interview with The Charlotte Observer set off alarm bells that he was looking to move on to greener pastures. As Olsen told the paper: “In my mind, I’m going to call big-time games again. I’m going to call Super Bowl games again. I just don’t know the timeline or the venue.”

I spoke to Shanks Thursday at Fox’s media day presser. The CEO said he’s delighted with Brady’s public statement that he wants to return to the Fox broadcast booth for Year 2. And that the 47-year-old football legend plans to serve the rest of his contract if not beyond.

“Clearly coming back. We kind of had to put our stake in the ground after some people were doubting the outcome there,” said Shanks. “Look, he’s an incredible teammate and leader. Inspirational to get us fired up about the game that we all love. We want to create new fans. He’s a rookie. But we’re also rookies with him. Figuring out the incredible way he sees the game—and simplifies it.”

For more on Olsen’s ambition, what could come next for him, and the plan at Fox, you can read Michael McCarthy’s full story here.

On Wednesday, I went deep with Stephen A. Smith on his contract negotiations. I came away with the impression he and ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro are at the 1-yard line on a monster contract extension that could be finalized shortly—as long as Smith retains his freedom to pursue independent media projects and talk politics on various news outlets.

“I work at a great place. We’re the worldwide leader. We’re No. 1. I’ve got great bosses. I’ve got great colleagues and friends. I love working there,” Smith told me during our one-on-one interview on Radio Row Wednesday. “I’m anticipating that hopefully we’ll reach a deal very, very soon, and I’ll march forward with ESPN for the foreseeable future.”

The 57-year-old Smith’s current deal with ESPN expires in July. The featured commentator and executive producer of morning TV powerhouse First Take told me he actually agreed on monetary terms back in the fall. The holdup now is juggling Smith’s contractual duties to ESPN [and parent company Disney] with his freedom to pursue independent projects. 

The Queens, N.Y., native is believed to be seeking an estimated five-year, $100 million extension that would make him ESPN’s highest-paid employee. He’s also launched his own independent media empire, including his eponymous YouTube show (which recently passed 1 million subscribers) and his Straight Shooter production company. Named after his best-selling memoir, the production firm is working on everything from sports documentaries to traditional dramas and sitcoms.

Smith is also the rare ESPN talent who has the green light to sound off on politics. Many politicos were shocked when Smith polled at 2% in a survey of hypothetical Democratic candidates for the 2028 U.S. presidential election. That was right behind the 3% for vice presidential candidate and Minnesota governor Tim Walz, as well as Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. (Former Vice President Kamala Harris led the poll at 33%, a reminder that name recognition is the primary factor this far away from any election.) 

During our exclusive interview, I asked Smith about running for the presidency. He said that he’s no politician.  Smith can’t see himself shaking hands, kissing babies, and trying to curry favor on the campaign trail. But if the nomination were offered, who knows?

“That campaign stuff would kill me. Because I am a straight shooter. And I am going to go up in there—and I am going to call it like I see it. I don’t give a damn if it’s at a rally, if it’s at a convention. You ask me a question and I’m going to give you an answer. I’m not going to shy away from it. And sometimes that’s not politically expedient.”

So Stephen A. for president in 2028? It’s a long shot—particularly if he doesn’t want to campaign. Then again nobody ever thought a billionaire real estate developer turned reality TV star would become president either. 

Clearly, Smith’s ESPN colleagues are having fun with the Oval Office talk. During Thursday’s morning handoff from Get Up to First Take, Mike Greenberg introduced Smith as “quite possibly the next president of the United States.” Smith smiled. “I approve that message; no doubt.”

Laura Rutledge has so many different roles at ESPN during the football season that sometimes it seems like there must be two of her. 

“You know what? I wish there were sometimes, because half the time I’m like Where am I? and What’s going on?” Rutledge told Front Office Sports from a hotel in downtown New Orleans during Super Bowl week.

Rutledge is the primary host of NFL Live on ESPN, and the anchor of the Saturday morning SEC Nation pregame show on SEC Network. She also worked over a dozen dates as a sideline reporter this past season between the network’s top college football crew, and the Monday Night Football second team on nights when ESPN had two games. To add to her professional responsibilities, Rutledge and her husband, Josh, are the parents to five-year-old daughter Reese and one-year-old son Jack. 

“During all of that in the fall, I didn’t ever allow myself to think about how crazy that was. I was just thinking, O.K., what’s the next thing? Compartmentalize. Put my brain towards it,” Rutledge said. “And looking back I’m thinking, Wow, that was really crazy!” 

Because she is in the day-to-day flow of the NFL, Rutledge said she finds it “easier” to keep up with everything going on in the league, and then will find “pockets of time” throughout the week to start getting a jump on SEC Nation and interview players for background on upcoming games for sideline reporting. 

“It’s like my brain is scrambled eggs at all times,” Rutledge said. 

As far as balancing the work with young kids, Rutledge admitted, “I’m still trying to figure that out. It’s a daily battle internally where I’m telling myself, ‘You’re not doing enough for them,’ and then ‘You’re not present enough at work.’ It’s always this constant push and pull with that.”

For more on Rutledge’s myriad responsibilities and how she navigated her son’s terrifying health scare on Christmas, you can read Ryan Glasspiegel’s full feature story here.

149 

Number of cameras employed by Fox Sports to cover Super Bowl LIX from pregame to postgame. That includes 27 super slow-motion cameras, 24 robotic cameras, 23 high-resolution cameras, 14 cameras on the Tubi Red Carpet, 12 wireless cameras, 10 Cosm panamorphic cameras, and seven augmented reality cameras.

Reader Frank Delaney commented on our scoop about Smith being “very, very” close to landing a lucrative contract extension that will likely make him the highest-paid talent at ESPN:

“I believe the future of sports media personalities contracts will rely on the freedom and flexibility to establish their own direct-to-consumer brand,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

When Smith told Sean Hannity he believed he could beat any Dem candidate, including Harris, Still Just Matt noted on X/Twitter: “I don’t actually disagree with him.” But Guy Named Len tweeted Smith is dreaming if he thinks he has a real shot in ’28: “1) Most people in this country don’t know who he is. 2) And once they have to hear him speak they will wish they still didn’t.”