Al Michaels finds his voice again

This past Thursday night, Al Michaels was in all his glory.

Alongside Kirk Herbstreit, the voice of Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football found himself in a full-circle moment that reminded everyone why he’s been the voice of big games for half a century. During the Packers-Commanders game, the 80-year-old realized he was calling the same matchup on the same date as one of the most significant broadcasts of his career, welcoming America back to football after 9/11.

On Thursday night, those who have criticized Michaels for seeming disengaged were reminded that he still has it. After a stretch of uneven performances and questions about his enthusiasm, viewers welcomed back this version of the broadcaster with open arms.

For most of his Amazon run, Michaels has sounded disinterested, drawing criticism for phoning it in on subpar Thursday matchups. When you’ve called “Do you believe in miracles?” and five Super Bowls, getting excited about Titans-Jaguars can feel like a Sisyphean task. Michaels won’t fake what isn’t there. He’s compared calling bad Thursday games to selling a used car. Most Thursday nights haven’t given him much to work with.

But something shifted this past Thursday. When he went off on tangents about the moon or took a moment to mark the anniversary of September 11, it felt like the Al Michaels who could find stories in the margins while calling the main event. The guy who made even routine Sunday night games feel consequential through the sheer force of his storytelling.

The difference might be as simple as having better material to work with. Quality matchups like Commanders-Packers give him something to sink his teeth into, unlike the Thursday night dregs that have defined too much of his Amazon tenure.

Better games help, but last night felt like something more fundamental. Maybe it was the start of a new season, or maybe Michaels has finally made peace with his post-NBC reality. Herbstreit, for his part, has defended his broadcast partner against the criticism, saying Michaels has more of an “F you” attitude about social media noise than trying to prove doubters wrong.

That attitude might be precisely what Michaels needed. When you’ve been calling games for over 50 years, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone.

Last night felt like a reminder that when Al Michaels is at his best, he’s still better than almost everyone else in the booth. The voice that called the Miracle on Ice hasn’t lost its magic; it just needed the right moment to remember what made it special in the first place.