Sportscaster Al Michaels Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Al Michaels blasts critics of Chargers-Jaguars call

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 1/16/23

Legendary play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels has hit back at those who have criticized his work during this past Saturday's wild-card playoff game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

"Must have gotten a hundred texts from folks who were very happy to see me back on NBC," Michaels texted Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. "Read some comments that we didn’t sound excited enough. Internet compost! You know me as well as anyone — no screaming, no yelling, no hollering. It’s TELEVISION! Ellipses and captions are [sufficient] when pictures tell the story. I’m not doing a game for over-the-top YouTube hits."

As mentioned by Sean Keeley of Awful Announcing, the Barrett Sports Media website, and other outlets, fans and media members alike have blasted Michaels and former NFL head coach Tony Dungy for lacking enthusiasm while calling a game that featured the Jaguars erasing a 27-0 deficit they faced before halftime. Michaels even remained subdued as Jacksonville's Riley Patterson booted a walk-off game-winning field goal:

THE @JAGUARS WIN. SIMPLY UNBELIEVABLE.#SuperWildCard #LACvsJAX pic.twitter.com/OQGu34T6QI
— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2023

As called by @Frank_Frangie on Jacksonville Jaguars radio: pic.twitter.com/6B93dbmfic
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 15, 2023

"27-0 makes it difficult to make it sound like more than it is," Michaels explained to Marchand. "One of the things that I think makes Tony good is that he doesn’t overtalk and load it up with unneeded blather. He’s measured, but almost everything he says has relevance and poignancy. A lot of folks who understand this industry are annoyed with the over-the-top yelling that makes a game sound like an offshoot of talk radio. I’m in that corner, but there are others who obviously think otherwise."

Last week, Michaels, 78, likened calling lackluster "Thursday Night Football" games for Amazon Prime Video to selling "a 20-year-old Mazda." He had no such excuse on Saturday, as he and Dungy were gifted with what may go down as the most interesting contest of the entire postseason tournament.

Per Adam Stites of Jaguars Wire/USA Today, Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth will team up inside the NBC booth to call this coming Saturday's playoff matchup between Jacksonville and the Kansas City Chiefs. Whether or not fans will miss hearing Michaels this weekend remains to be seen.

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