BY Salman AhmedFeb 12, 2023. 09:32 pmUPDATED: Feb 12, 2023. 09:32 pm
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Greg Olsen, an NFL broadcaster, is also a retired tight end, a sports analyst, and a volunteer baseball coach, but his most significant roles are those of a husband and a parent.
Greg and his wife Kara Olsen got married in 2009 after meeting while attending the University of Miami. Since then, the couple has welcomed three kids: twins Talbot and T.J., as well as son Tate. Tuck, a German Shepherd, is another member of the family.
Greg left the NFL after 14 seasons to work as a broadcaster in 2021. Despite playing his final football season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2020, he spent the majority of his career with the Carolina Panthers.
In March 2022, the NFL commentator and his wife Kara celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary. He marked the occasion on Instagram, writing, “Atleast one of us looks the same ? Happy 13th anniversary to my best friend! @karaolsen29 ❤️,” alongside a photo from their wedding day and a more recent picture.
Greg Olsen, an NFL broadcaster, is also a retired tight end, a sports analyst, and a volunteer baseball coach, but his most significant roles are those of a husband and a parent.
Greg and his wife Kara Olsen got married in 2009 after meeting while attending the University of Miami. Since then, the couple has welcomed three kids: twins Talbot and T.J., as well as son Tate. Tuck, a German Shepherd, is another member of the family.
Greg left the NFL after 14 seasons to work as a broadcaster in 2021. Despite playing his final football season with the Seattle Seahawks in 2020, he spent the majority of his career with the Carolina Panthers.
Here’s everything to know about Greg Olsen’s wife and kids.
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Greg and Kara first crossed paths as freshman at the University of Miami when Greg noticed Kara in a pair of shorts while Kara was 17 and Greg was 18.
“She had short shorts on. They said ‘CANES’ across the butt. … I remember them. I remember you in them,” he told The Charlotte Observer in 2019.
Their relationship started as a friendship, with the couple hanging out in Kara’s dorm watching shows like The Bachelor and MTV’s Newlyweds. Their friendship turned romantic, however, when Kara went on a date with someone else — and Greg was “jealous.”
The future NFL pro then asked Kara out on a date, and the two had dinner at PF Chang’s and then saw the movie Mean Girls.
“We’re kind of boring,” Kara told the outlet. “I don’t know how exciting our love story is.”
“I remember [Greg] sat outside the dorms and watched as I left and asked me what time I was going to be back,” Kara recalled to the Observer.
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Greg and Kara got married in 2009, and they later had three kids together. Greg was traded from the Chicago Bears to the Carolina Panthers about the time their first child, Tate, was born.
The couple gave birth to twins soon after, Tate and T.J.
Tate enjoys football just like his father. Greg posted on Instagram in November 2022 that Tate plays Pop Warner football and that Tate’s team had won the city championship.
Along with his brother T.J., he plays baseball. According to ESPN, their father Greg also coaches Tate’s baseball team on a volunteer basis. In July 2021, Greg posted on Instagram an homage to Tate’s perseverance as a pitcher in baseball.
“I typically don’t post about my kids playing sports. Every now and then though we share an experience that is too good not to share,” he wrote in part. “I am so proud of Tate and his entire team for all they accomplished. The hard work, personal sacrifice, struggles and triumphs are teaching these boys the lessons only sports can teach you.”
T.J. was born on October 9, 2012, and was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare heart disease. Due to this issue, T.J. was born with just half of a heart, necessitating a number of surgeries over the course of his lifetime. T.J. was put on the heart transplant waiting list after being taken to the hospital with heart failure in May 2021.
Later, Greg’s youngest son discovered a donor match, and the NFL analyst posted a touching video of T.J. sharing the happy news with his brothers.
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On June 4, 2021, T.J. finally had a heart transplant. T.J. posted a message on Instagram for his dad Greg three days following his operation.
He added, “Being a dad can be stressful and full of doubt. But man is it fun!!”
Tate enjoys Top Gun as well, and for Halloween in 2022, he and his brother dressed as Maverick and Goose.
“Hi, everybody. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for praying with me,” he said. “We love you guys, bye.”
Two weeks later, T.J. got to ring the bell at the hospital and Greg shared a video of the happy event on Instagram, writing, “Ever since TJ was admitted into the ICU a little less than a month ago in heart failure, we would lay in bed at night and talk about ‘ringing the bell.’ We didn’t know what that journey would look like or how long it would take, but he promised @karaolsen29 and I that he was going to ring it.”
One year after receiving a heart transplant, T.J. met Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers, one of his football heroes, in October 2022. T.J. also takes pleasure in playing baseball and football.
Greg and Kara’s only child is Talbot. Kara accompanied her father on a special birthday trip to Los Angeles for her tenth birthday in October 2022. “Celebrating my daughter’s 10th birthday in LA this past weekend with my team, the @nflonfox. What a wonderful opportunity for the two of us to spend time together while travelling! the #girldad “He added the note next to a picture of the father-daughter team seated at the announcer’s desk.
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Before T.J. had his heart transplant, Talbot and her brother T.J. celebrated their first communion in June 2021. She also enjoys boating excursions and swimming. She even cheers for young athletes.
Following T.J.’s diagnosis, the couple established The Heartest Yard Foundation, a family assistance programme for children with cardiovascular conditions.
“While we are in the hospital we make sure it is clear that we are only there as T.J.’s family,” Greg told PEOPLE in 2016. “We enjoy getting to know the other families and being a support system for one another.” He continued, “We have received just as much support as we have given over the years. The [congenital heart defect] family network is incredibly strong and tight knit. It is something truly special.”
Greg and his wife both like working out, and over the years they have kept records of their workouts. Kara shared a video of her riding a Peloton cycle with her son in 2017.
In 2020, she brought Greg along for a core-focused yoga class at Hilliard Studio Method, which he talked about on Twitter. Immediately after the class, he tweeted, “UPDATE: Husband is fatigued.”
“I don’t mind being with a bunch of chicks,” Greg told The Charlotte Observer of doing yoga with his wife in the off-season. “I’m around boys non-stop. I’m totally cool having a break from dudes.”
Greg and Kara spoke with The Charlotte Observer in 2019 while Greg was still a member of the Carolina Panthers. She told the magazine, “Greg and I have always struck a wonderful balance.” “I try to step in when he is vulnerable. He has always done a wonderful job of stepping in when I was weak. When we see older couples, we make jokes about our future plans once the kids have left the house and we have both retired from our respective careers in football. We desire to journey. We enjoy eating. We have a huge list of items on our bucket list to undertake as a couple.”
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Greg added, “We are very lucky. But there’s no perfect story. This is not a movie.”
The retired NFL player also spoke highly of Kara’s parenting skills. He added, “She cooks, she’s a great mom, she’s always taking care of the kids. She’s in the backyard with the dog. She never sits, never naps, never even watches TV. I don’t know how she does it.”
T.J. was born on October 9, 2012, and was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare heart disease. Due to this issue, T.J. was born with just half of a heart, necessitating a number of surgeries over the course of his lifetime. T.J. was put on the heart transplant waiting list after being taken to the hospital with heart failure in May 2021.
Later, Greg’s youngest son discovered a donor match, and the NFL analyst posted a touching video of T.J. sharing the happy news with his brothers.
On June 4, 2021, T.J. finally had a heart transplant. T.J. posted a message on Instagram for his dad Greg three days following his operation.
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“Hi, everybody. Thank you for thinking of me. Thank you for praying with me,” he said. “We love you guys, bye.”
Two weeks later, T.J. was given the opportunity to ring the hospital bell. Greg posted a video of the joyful occasion to Instagram with the caption, “T.J “We have talked about “ringing the bell” every night since TJ was admitted to the ICU with heart failure a little less than a month ago as we lay in bed. He assured @karaolsen29 and I that he would ring it, even though we had no idea what the trek would entail or how long it would take.”
One year after receiving a heart transplant, T.J. met Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers, one of his football heroes, in October 2022. T.J. also takes pleasure in playing baseball and football.
