The 2025 Syracuse football team has some big questions, especially now that we are two weeks into the season. They struggled against Tennessee at a neutral site but had to come from behind to beat UConn. The win against UConn prompted Fran Brown to take out his frustration on the Orange, forcing them to stay and do sprints as punishment because he thinks they were sloppy.
It drew all sorts of reactions across the sports media landscape. Some thought it was necessary and funny, but others, like former NFL tight end and commentator Greg Olsen, thought it was “performative.” Brown responded on “Cuse Sports Talk” on Wednesday, saying he’s focusing on his team after Olsen’s comments.
Brown said he doesn’t know Olsen, but he pointed out his achievements in the NFL. Given Syracuse’s short week, he opted to deal with the situation postgame instead of waiting until the next day. However, he noted the “different situation” with people still in the building.
“I don’t really know Greg Olsen, so I don’t want to talk about him at all, to be honest,” Brown said. “He was a good football player. I told the players we were going to do something. If you know me, then you’ll understand what happened. But once I saw all those people still out there, there are certain things that you can’t do. It becomes a different situation. It was not like I could go up and do the things we would do to ensure that guys are running after practice and getting it done. So instead of, ‘Hey, just come in, we’ll handle it tomorrow,’ we play on Friday, so we’ve got an opportunity to do other stuff.
“I don’t know Greg Olsen. I think he had a good career and wish him the best. I never spoke about him, how he played, or anything else that he does. I’m just really focused on me and our football team.”
Greg Olsen's comments came when he appeared on an episode of “Wake Up Barstool.” The FOX color analyst said that while he understands the need for accountability, he argued it should’ve been taken care of behind the scenes.
The FOX analyst mainly only covers the NFL despite being demoted from FOX's top NFL broadcast booth in favor of Tom Brady. It is unlikely we ever had a real interaction between these two, but overall, it was interesting to see.
