Greg Olsen showed his good-natured side when he was trolled mercilessly over a viral photo from Christian McCaffrey and Olivia Culpo’s wedding.
The former NFL tight end and current Fox Sports analyst appeared slightly disheveled in a snapshot taken with the bride and groom during the reception, held at Ocean House in Rhode Island on June 29.
Olsen humorously recounted the incident during an appearance on the “SI Media” podcast with Jimmy Traina. “I talked to Christian [and] I said, ‘Tell Olivia thanks so much for getting me killed on Twitter [now X],'” Olsen said, referring to Culpo sharing the picture on her Instagram. “He’s like, ‘Dude, we never thought in a million years that was going to happen; we just thought it was such a fun picture.’ And I was like, ‘I’m kidding. That kind of stuff, I don’t care.’ It was fun. We got a great laugh out of it.”
Traina mentioned that some people might not believe Olsen “didn’t have about 12 drinks at that point” when the viral photo was taken. Olsen clarified, explaining he wasn’t heavily drinking that night. “I didn’t have 12 drinks the entire night,” he said, adding that he isn’t a big drinker. “They caught me in a bad facial expression,” Olsen explained. “They caught me like mid-something. If I could have just settled into the picture and had a normal smile, it would have been maybe not as fun of a picture to talk about.”
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Despite the internet’s playful jabs, Olsen took the memes and jokes in stride. “I think the internet is hysterical. You see the memes. People are funny and listen, if you’re going to take yourself too serious and you can’t just laugh and say ‘yeah I had a great time… at a really close friend’s wedding’ … that’s on you.”
Olsen also mentioned that his slightly disheveled appearance was due to the festivities. “I was sweating and had my shirt unbuttoned because I was dancing and acting stupid with my buddies,” he said. He noted that he and McCaffrey were teammates with the Panthers from 2017 to 2019, adding, “I’m not a buttoned-up guy, that’s just not my thing. We got through the formal aspect of the night [and] my tie and button were off. I probably looked different than everybody else because I was probably sweatier than everybody else at that point. I love weddings. I hadn’t seen a lot of those guys in a long time … You’re with your friends and guys that I played with, and some of my best friends in my life that live all over the country.”
Olsen’s media career has also been notable.
He recently won an Emmy for his work in the broadcast booth but was replaced by Tom Brady as Fox’s top analyst. Brady signed a 10-year, $375 million deal with Fox in 2022 and is set to become the network’s new lead analyst alongside play-by-play commentator Kevin Burkhardt.
Olsen now serves on the No. 2 broadcast team with Joe Davis.
Through it all, Olsen’s ability to laugh at himself and his infectious enthusiasm for life’s joyful moments continue to endear him to fans and colleagues alike.
