Al Michaels: Calling Thursday NFL games like selling a 'used car'

Legendary play-by-play broadcaster Al Michaels still isn't hiding his feelings about some of the "Thursday Night Football" games he called for Amazon Prime Video this NFL season. 

"From the Amazon people, nothing but support," Michaels told Richard Deitsch of The Athletic about his relationship with the company. "I think they understood what this was. We’re making the most of it. I mean, you just can’t oversell something. Do you want me to sell you a 20-year-old Mazda? That’s what you’re asking me to do. I can’t sell you a used car. … I’ve kind of gone down that road a little bit in games that have been bad in the past. But this game was horrifically bad."

Specifically, Michaels was referencing the matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos from Week 5 when Indianapolis won 12-9 in overtime. 

"In fact, at one point during the game, I said to (analyst) Kirk (Herbstreit), 'Is it possible this game could be so bad that it’s actually good?' He’d never heard that from a partner and went, 'No!'" Michaels explained. "We’re going to overtime and there’s a shot of maybe a thousand people walking out of the stadium. Then an overhead shot of people going to the parking lot. Kirk said, 'I can’t believe it’s overtime and they are leaving.' I said they’d seen enough. Sometimes you just have to beat the traffic."

Michaels added that his feelings that evening merely matched those had by plenty of viewers watching from home. 

As Max Weisman pointed out for the New York Post, Michaels went viral the following week for bashing the "Thursday Night Football" dud involving the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears. Before that contest, Michaels joked during a radio appearance that he "may retire" if the midweek prime-time games didn't improve. 

According to The Post's Andrew Marchand, Michaels signed a three-year, $33 million deal with Amazon following the 2021 campaign. Fans won't have to wait until this coming September to hear Michaels call NFL action again, as he'll be working the Saturday night wild-card playoff clash between the Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars.