Al Michaels, a well-known face in sports broadcasting, has been surprisingly left out of NBC’s NFL playoff lineup in a move that he was reportedly unacquainted with.
Al Michaels has been unceremoniously taken off NBC's playoff coverage this year and it seemingly caught him by surprise. ⏬https://t.co/wLiqGWZyBZ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 17, 2023
This intriguing development comes as NBC prepares to televise three playoff games during the highly-anticipated NFL Wild Card weekend.
Over the past decade, Michaels has established himself as a staple within NBC’s Sunday Night Football team, calling games since 2006 alongside Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, and sideline reporter Melissa Stark.
More recently, Michaels has been lending his seasoned commentary to Amazon Prime Video’s broadcasts of Thursday Night Football alongside Kirk Herbstreit, showcasing the range of his broadcasting prowess.
In the previous season, he called NBC’s gripping broadcast of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ victory over the Los Angeles Chargers during the Wild Card round.
According to Andrew Marchand from The New York Post, Michaels is not part of NBC’s playoff plans. NBC’s esteemed Sunday Night Football team consisting of Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, and sideline reporter Melissa Stark will handle two out of the three games.
This team’s coverage includes a match exclusively for Peacock. The broadcast for the remaining game is to be covered by NBC’s No. 1 college team comprising Noah Eagle, Todd Blackledge, and sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen.
The broadly unsuspected deviation from the usual lineup was confirmed by NBC Sports, with the news apparently taking Michaels by surprise.
“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?”
The driving factors behind Michaels’ exclusion from the playoff coverage remain unclear, though some have speculated that the critical reception towards his earlier broadcasts might have played a role.
Audiences did not view his call of the Jaguars-Chargers thrilling comeback victory with Tony Dungy positively, arguing that it fell short of the game’s intensity.
This critique might have contributed to the later decision not to involve Michaels in the playoff coverage.
Despite his desire to continue in the role, NBC replaced Michaels with Tirico on Sunday Night Football, which has only further drummed up speculation about potential disputes within the network’s echelons.
Despite the apparent “emergency ” status at NBC, Michaels has already pledged to return to the Amazon broadcast booth for the 2024 season.
Amazon holds Michaels under contract until the conclusion of that season. As such, fans of the renowned broadcaster can still look forward to his expert commentary on Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football.
