With the 2024 playoffs underway, some fans may have noticed that legendary NFL announcer Al Michaels isn’t on the call for any of this year’s postseason games.
From NBC to Amazon
Ahead of the 2022 season, announcer Al Michaels left his position as the top NFL play-by-play announcer for NBC as the network inserted Mike Tirico as the new voice of Sunday Night Football. Al Michaels, who had served as NBC’s top NFL announcer since the network began airing SNF in 2006, subsequently teamed up with Kirk Herbstreit to call the weekly Thursday Night Football broadcasts on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service.
But while Michaels is no longer NBC’s top NFL voice, he has remained affiliated with the network in an emeritus role. That’s included calling NBC’s broadcast of the AFC Wild Card game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Los Angeles Chargers during last season’s playoffs alongside Tony Dungy.
NBC’s NFL Playoffs Plans
With NBC laying claim to three postseason games this year — including a Peacock exclusive broadcast — the assumption was that Michaels would once again be calling one of the network’s playoff matchups. That changed, however, in December, when the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reported that the 79-year-old Michaels wasn’t in NBC’s postseason plans. It was Tirico who called two of the network’s postseason broadcasts (one with Cris Collinsworth and the other with Jason Garrett), while the Big Ten on NBC broadcast team of Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge called the other one.
The decision reportedly blindsided Michaels, who has called 11 Super Bowl television broadcasts, including six for ABC and five for NBC, dating back to 1991.
“It’s in my deal,” Michaels told the Post. “Where are you hearing that from? That’s part of my deal. Are you hearing something that I’m not hearing?”
As for why NBC opted not to have Michaels call a game for them, no official reason has publicly been given. Some, however, have pointed to the criticism that he and Dungy received for their call of last year’s playoff game, in which many felt their enthusiasm didn’t meet the moment for the Jaguars’ comeback from a 27-point deficit.
Nevertheless, NBC has received criticism for not only its decision to pull Michaels from this year’s postseason but how he reportedly received the news.
“How was he told that he was not doing this playoff game?” ESPN Monday Night Football play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck asked Marchand during an appearance on the Sports Media Podcast in December. “If you tell me he’s known forever and this is the deal, this is the deal that he signed, well that’s one thing. But to find out publicly, and you’re Al Michaels…How was he alerted to this? Was this in his deal, did he know beforehand, did he find out through social media or through you? And if the answer is that he found out through you [Marchand] or social media, then I think that sucks.”
Al Michaels’ Broadcasting Future
As for his future, Michaels has already publicly stated that he plans to return to the Amazon booth for the 2024 NFL season. The status of his reportedly strained relationship with NBC, however, appears less clear.