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Cowboys on NFL 'Thursday Night Football' & Al Michaels Bold Response To Critics

Originally posted on Men's Journal | By Tony Fisher | Last updated 11/30/23

DALLAS - The “Thursday Night Football” crew has rolled into DFW for a Dallas Cowboys meeting with the Seattle Seahawks. It's a high-profile and high-stakes game, and that figures to be good for all ... including the legendary voice Al Michaels, who is apparently tired at the criticism recently thrown his way.

“It's almost like they're saying, 'He's lost it.' ... He hears the noise,'' broadcast partner Kirk Herbstreit said on the “Pardon My Take” podcast. “He has more of (a bleep)-you attitude about it, than ‘I’m going to show them.’ He thinks it’s a bunch of (bleep). I think it’s a bunch of (bleep). And I think it’s just a narrative that social media’s kind of running with.”

That "narrative'' is that Michaels, age 79, is losing interest in the telecasts ... especially when the games on Amazon Prime Video lack a certain luster. And in fact, Herbstreit frankly acknowledged that when these Thursday night games are subpar, maybe the partners' work reflects that.

“Al, when he would do ‘Sunday Night Football’ or ‘Monday Night Football’, those games were massive,'' Herbstreit said. "You’re doing big games and your voice projects based on the setting that you’re in. ...

“I think your voice always matches with what you’re doing. ... I’ve noticed Al Michaels is very much like me. When the game warrants excitement, he brings excitement.”

It could be argued that the job of Michaels and Herbstreit is to bring out the drama and the storylines and the behind-the-scenes interest no matter the records or the performances of the teams involved. Indeed, Michaels himself has in the past suggested that is exactly the case.

“I don’t think I’m a lot different than I have been through the years,” Michaels said to The New York Post. “And if people you know want to say that, ‘Al doesn’t sound as excited.’ Hold on a second, folks. I’m doing the same game I’ve always done.”

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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