Plenty of Americans took home medals at the Milan-Cortina Games, but the gold medal for broadcasting might go to NBC’s Kenny Albert, who stamped himself in history with epic calls of the game-winning goals for the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams.
Albert’s 2026 Winter Olympics golden goal calls went viral, and quite literally everyone who had his contact information reached out to let him know how great they were.
“It was overwhelming—the texts, the stories, the tweets. It does kind of feel like I’m reading about my own funeral,” Albert told Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel. “In a way, it was sort of the equivalent of working a Super Bowl. That was the magnitude of it.”
Albert, who called 24 games in 18 days for NBC, told FOS that following the men’s hockey gold medal victory over Canada on Sunday, he had 483 unread text messages waiting for him.
“Who’s the craziest one I heard from? Joe Torre, for example, who I know a little bit, but we didn’t have each other’s number,” Albert said. “We have a few mutuals, but I’m not sure where he got it. Someone like that? It blew me away to be honest.”
Albert also told Glasspiegel that he got a direct message on social media from Sarah Palin, explaining, “She’s a big hockey fan and former sportscaster.”
A who’s who of New York media members reached out to Albert in some capacity, including Keith Hernandez, Howie Rose, Michael Kay, Suzyn Waldman, Mike Breen, Boomer Esiason, and Len Berman. Others in the sports media space that Albert heard from include Doc Emrick, Wayne Gretzky, Adam Wainwright, Steve Lyons, Mark Grace, Daryl “Moose” Johnston, Ronde Barber, Tim Green, and Pat LaFontaine. His dad, legendary announcer Marv Albert, offered some kind words as well.
Even Howard Stern’s producer, Gary Dell’Abate, made sure to reach out and offer praise to Albert.
“It’s the most texts I’ve ever gotten in one day,” Albert said. “I usually look at my phone during commercials once in a while, and I try to answer people pretty quickly. Sunday was like no other day I’ve ever had. I did check in on the family group chat with my wife and kids, but I tried not to look at anything else. I wanted to be focused.”
There’s not much time to stop and savor it all. Albert and partner Eddie Olcyzk are back on the call for Vegas Golden Knights-Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night on TNT.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.