Al Michaels is one of the best play-by-play announcers in NFL history. He has a broadcasting history that goes back several decades in this sport. However, a recent report reveals that his days of calling the biggest NFL games may be over.
Al Michaels Not Calling NBC Playoff Games?
According to this report by the New York Post, Al Michaels looks like he will be shut out of this year’s NBC playoff coverage. Last year, he paired up with commentator Tony Dungy for the call. Now, it appears that NBC is heading in a different direction.
NBC Alternatives
NBC has its own broadcast crew currently calling Sunday Night Football (SNF) games. Of the four playoff games that NBC has the rights to this year, they plan to use the SNF crew for three of them. The broadcasting team here is the well-regarded Mike Tirico and Chris Collinsworth.
That leaves one game available for a secondary broadcast team. The report above states that Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge are expected to get the nod. Kathryn Tappen will join them on the sidelines.
Right now, Eagle and Blackledge call Big Ten college football games for NBC. They may primarily do college football coverage for NBC but the network appears to be satisfied with their work. Now, they will have a chance to show what they are made of for an NFL playoff game.
This is Eagle’s first year with NBC as a football play-by-play announcer. As the son of legendary play-by-play broadcaster Ian Eagle, Noah is quickly making a name of his own in the sports broadcasting field. He is just 27 years old. Eagle has NFL broadcasting experience, primarily handling play-by-play coverage for Nickelodeon in the prior three years.
Al Michaels’ NFL Play-by-Play Future
Right now, Al Michaels is the play-by-play announcer for Thursday Night Football on Amazon. He has done this for the last two seasons and is joined by commentator Kirk Herbstreit. However, this has not come without criticism.
Many fans have criticized Michaels for a lack of enthusiasm while calling these Thursday night games. This also came up during last year’s playoff broadcast with Tony Dungy. Michaels and Dungy called a truly wild AFC wild card game where the Jacksonville Jaguars had an impressive comeback against the Los Angeles Chargers.
He has a lengthy history calling big NFL games. Michaels spent 20 years as the play-by-play announcer for ABC’s Monday Night Football broadcast. In 2006, he joined NBC to become the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast. He ended his tenure there by calling Super Bowl LVI between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams.
Michaels is now 79 years old. As a result, many fans have wondered if he will retire soon. Right now, Michaels has one year left on his contract with Amazon and does not plan on going anywhere. However, assuming the New York Post report is accurate, we may be done listening to Al Michaels call meaningful NFL games.
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