Legendary sportscaster Al Michaels, who has been behind the microphone for 11 Super Bowls during his career, will not be calling games for NBC during the NFL’s upcoming postseason.
NBC confirmed to The Associated Press that Michaels will not be working the playoffs.
Michaels, 79, will be replaced in the NBC booth by Noah Eagle, 26, as the play-by-play voice for its No. 2 NFL playoff broadcast crew in January, according to ESPN and NBC Sports. Eagle will be joined in the booth by former quarterback Todd Blackledge. The pair just finished their first season calling Big Ten games for NBC.
The New York Post was the first outlet to report the news. The newspaper reported that NBC Sports vice president Greg Hughes confirmed the assignments.
NBC has reportedly removed Al Michaels from NFL playoff coverage in an unexpected move https://t.co/EYsj3y4N9C
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) December 12, 2023
Michaels reportedly earned $1 million per game in a deal with Amazon Prime, which allows him to accept assignments from NBC due to his “emeritus” label, according to ESPN. He will continue to work in the booth for Amazon Prime during the 2024 season, according to Bleacher Report.
Michaels, 79, has called “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon Prime with Kirk Herbstreit since 2022, Sports Illustrated reported. Last season, Michaels contributed play-by-play to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 31-30 wild-card victory against the Los Angeles Chargers on NBC, according to the magazine.
NBC will broadcast three NFL playoff games in January, with two of them being handled by “Sunday Night Football” team Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth, The Athletic reported.
Michaels has been the voice of prime-time NFL coverage since 1986, ESPN reported. He was the play-by-play announcer on “Monday Night Football” from 1986 to 2005 and moved to “Sunday Night Football” to partner with John Madden in 2006. He called games for “Sunday Night Football” until the end of the 2021 season, according to USA Today.
Michaels’ Super Bowl appearances tie him with Pat Summerall.
Michaels worked at ABC from 1976 to 1986, Sports Illustrated reported. Michaels is known for his calls at the 1980 Winter Olympics, when the U.S. hockey team defeated the Soviet Union in a semifinal game called the “Miracle On Ice.” (”Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”). Michaels was also behind the microphone in October 1989 when Game 3 of the World Series was jolted by a major earthquake shortly before the first pitch.
Before that, Michaels was the play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds from 1971 to 1974.
The announcer received the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence by the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, according to The Associated Press.
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