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Al Michaels out for NFL playoffs on NBC in move he wasn't expecting


chongli

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Al Michael, 79, storied play-by-play announcer for Amazon's TNF and announcer emeritus for NBC, is out for this year's playoffs on NBC, which does four playoff games this year. Michaels was unaware of this when contacted by the NY Post. Last year, Michaels did Chargers at Jaguars with Tony Dungy. 

 

 

https://nypost.com/2023/12/12/sports/al-michaels-out-of-nbcs-nfl-playoff-coverage-in-move-he-didnt-expect/amp/

 

"Al Michaels out of NBC’s NFL playoff coverage in move he wasn’t expecting

 

Michaels called last year’s incredible Jaguars comeback win over the Chargers, but he and analyst Tony Dungy were widely panned for a perceived lack of enthusiasm. 

 

[...]

 

When informed by The Post about it being in limbo, Michaels sounded unaware of the possibility.

 

“It’s in my deal,” Michaels said. “Where are you hearing that from? That’s part of my deal. Are you hearing something that I’m not hearing?”

 

There has long been tension between Michaels and top NBC executives, though they have done their best to hide it from public view, even giving Michaels an emeritus title when he was replaced. There was a failure to truly define what the emeritus role really meant, except for calling the playoff game.

 

NBC decided to move on from Michaels, even though he longed to stay at the top perch on “Sunday Night Football.” NBC had long promised Tirico the lead role, and kept true to its word even after Michaels went out with a tremendous performance for NBC in the Super Bowl in February 2022."

 

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  • chongli changed the title to Al Michaels out for NFL playoffs on NBC in move he wasn't expecting

No one expects NBC Executives!!  Their main weapon is surprise. Surprise and Cris Collinsworth's inane rambling. Their *two* main weapons are surprise, Cris Collinsworth's inane ramblings, and near fanatical devotion to Taylor Swift.  *Among* their weapons are surprise, Cris Collinsworth's ramblings, and fanatical devotion to Taylor Swift and thats it.  Also, a dizzying array of irrelevant talking heads that add no value to the broadcast...@#$@#%

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10 minutes ago, PetermansRedemption said:

Doesn’t Al call for Amazon now? I think it would have been more surprising if he WAS calling for NBC in the playoffs. 

 

He still calls them for NBC since he hs emeritus there, and he was expecting to this year.  He says it is in his contract. He has called them each year and did NBC's LAC-JAX Wild Card last year and one or two regular season games last year. This move is a stunner to all.

 

Expect a lawsuit soon.

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7 minutes ago, eball said:

Sucks if they blindsided him with this, but I'll say he has really dropped off over the last couple of years.  Happens to the best of 'em and he's a legend at his craft.

 

Easy to fall off when you have the WORST games for 2 straight years and your play by play guy is …. No where near good enough for the NFL. Kirk calls NFL games like college games and I’m a HUGE Kirk fan for college… he’s just below average for the NFL. 

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15 minutes ago, warrior9 said:

Easy to fall off when you have the WORST games for 2 straight years 

 

Yeah, Michaels always gets the lesser of NBC's playoff games since their A-team gets too billing, obviously. In any case, I'm sure he is pissed right now and calling his lawyer.

 

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Seems like he is still fine in his role.  When summerall hit that wall in like 01 or 02 whatever year it was....it was as obvious as it got and he needed to retire and enjoy his life, the best to ever do it.  

 

Doesn't seem like Al michaels is in that same spot though.  

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I have no issue with NBC moving on from Al Michaels in general.

 

But you don’t do it mid season, and you don’t do it without talking to him first. The guy is an absolute legend. Shame on NBC for doing him dirty. 
 

For Al’s sake I hope Amazon gets the SB at some point and they let Al tell NBC to eat shirt on live TV, then retires. 

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