Broadcast legend Al Michaels calls Super Bowl with uncertain future. Where he stands
When you hear Al Michaels call his 11th Super Bowl on NBC on Sunday, take a moment to appreciate a legend doing his job supremely well, because it might be the final time the best play-by-play man in NFL history calls a Super Bowl, or perhaps any NFL game on traditional network television.
NBC is expected to replace Michaels with Mike Tirico on Sunday Night Football next season; it has been widely reported that when Tirico moved from ESPN to NBC in 2016, he had a clause in his contract that he would take over play-by-play for the Sunday package in 2022, alongside Cris Collinsworth, who will return next season.
The big problem with that succession play: Michaels, at 77, isn’t ready to retire. And he’s still at the top of his game.
So is it possible that Sunday’s Super Bowl could be the last game he ever calls?
“I hope not and I don’t think it will be,” Michaels told Bob Costas last month on Costas’ HBO show, On The Record. “My contract ends after the Super Bowl with NBC. At this point, I feel great. I still love what I do. My health is good. I still want to continue to do this next year for sure.
“[Former Buffalo Bills coach] Marv Levy said when you start thinking about retiring, you’ve already retired. I’m living in the moment and enjoying the hell out of this season. I’ve talked with Tom [Brady] and as you reach the end, you savor it more.
“You realize I am not at the beginning of my career. I’m not in the middle of it. I just want to suck the enjoyment out of the moment. That’s where I am right now. In the parlance of football, Brady and I have both outkicked the coverage, shall we say.”
Michaels, on an NBC conference call with reporters this week, said: “I don’t know what the future will hold ... but I do know one thing. I love what I do, I feel great and I’m not ready for any rocking chair or golf. I get to play enough golf, believe me.”
Michaels has an offer to call Thursday games for Amazon Prime, which next season takes over the package from Fox, and many expect he will end up accepting that job.
But ESPN also has given thought to pursuing Michaels to replace Steve Levy on Monday Night Football, according to the New York Post. An NFL job at CBS or Fox seems far less likely, because those networks are committed to Jim Nantz and Joe Buck as their lead voices.
If Michaels takes the Amazon job, there’s a decent chance he could do a few NBC games if he chooses, including a playoff game on a weekend that NBC has two games. And on Thanksgiving weekend, Tirico hypothetically could continue to do that Thursday game with Michaels working the Sunday game.
Asked by Costas if he has options, Michaels said: “I do at the moment. I’m not sure exactly what combination will or won’t be available or whether it will be a combination or an exclusive situation. But the opportunity is there to continue on. To me, retirement is almost a dirty word.”
On Sunday, Michaels said he will be “rooting for drama. Great endings. I always wanted to do the first overtime Super Bowl. Who gets the first overtime? Buck and Aikman [for Falcons-Patriots in February 2017].
“What would I love to see happen on Feb. 13? I’ll take a three-overtime Super Bowl ending any way it can. Can you imagine what that would be like? That’s what I’ll be rooting for.”
During his wide-ranging interview with Costas, Michaels admitted that “baseball is my first love. I built my career around baseball. As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, my father took me to Ebbets Field and we could walk there.
“I loved all sports, [but] I fell in love with baseball first and fell in love with the Dodgers. [Called] eight World Series. I haven’t done baseball since basically 1995, because we lost the rights [when] I was at ABC. That was painful.”
A five time Sports Emmy winner and a member of broadcast wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Michaels has called NFL games for ABC (Monday Night Football), CBS and NBC; was ABC’s lead NBA voice for two seasons; called eight World Series; announced several Sugar Bowls; hosted the Triple Crown, Stanley Cup Finals, Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR races and called four Olympics.
It’s remarkable that the most skilled NFL play-by-play man in history might be best remembered for his “Do you believe in miracles?” call of the U.S. hockey team’s stunning upset of Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics.
So what’s on his bucket list?
“At this point, it’s filled up,” he told Costas. “In this business, nothing. Somebody once said, ‘Don’t you want to do the World Cup?’ If I did the World Cup, it would be the first soccer game I ever went to.”
So appreciate Michaels’ mastery of his craft on Sunday. Unless he ends up working several years at ESPN - which gets its first Super Bowl in 2026, with ABC simulcasting - it’s likely the final Super Bowl he will ever call.
“Every dream I dreamed as a kid in this business has come true,” he said. “No regrets. Zero.”
And the man has never eaten a vegetable in his life!
Regardless of whether it’s Michaels or someone else calling the Thursday Amazon games, it will cost you. Amazon is raising the annual fee for its prime subscription in the U.S. from $119 to $139. Monthly subscriptions rose $2 to $14.99. Amazon will carry 15 Thursday night games a season in a deal running through 2032.
AROUND THE DIAL
▪ Super Bowl TV notes: NBC said it will cover Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL during its pre-game show... This will be Michele Tafoya’s final game as an NFL sideline reporter. She’s leaving to pursue TV opportunities outside of sports. Kathryn Tappen is expected to replace her.... This will mark the first time ever that a Super Bowl and Olympics will be on the same network on the same day.
▪ Like Michaels, Fox lead game analyst Troy Aikman also will be a free agent this offseason. Amazon has interest in pairing Aikman with Michaels on Thursday night games.
It’s possible Aikman could do both the Thursday games on Amazon and Sunday games on Fox. While working the Thursday night package for Fox in recent years, Aikman and Buck also worked Sunday games when Fox had a double-header but got Sundays off otherwise.
▪ Louis Riddick, the ESPN Monday Night Football co-analyst, reportedly will interview for the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager job. He was the Eagles’ director of pro personnel in 2013.
▪ Though NBC has been outdrawing all other networks in prime time during the Olympics, these Winter Games are on pace to be the lowest rated in U.S. TV history, with ratings down more than half from the 2018 Winter Games.
Most of NBC’s announcers are calling events from network studios in Stamford, Conn. Prime time host Tirico began the Olympics anchoring from China but returned to the United States this week for the Super Bowl and will anchor the remainder of the Olympics from Los Angeles and Connecticut.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 12:50 PM.
