In a surprising twist, Al Michaels won’t be on the call for one of the three NBC broadcasts during the NFL playoffs next month.
According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, the network has decided to hand the reigns of what would’ve been Michaels’ game to their college team instead, featuring Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge.
“The legendary Al Michaels is out of NBC’s NFL playoff coverage, The Post has learned,” reported Marchand. “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.
“NBC has three playoff games next month. The network’s No. 1 team, “Sunday Night Football’s” Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth, will handle two of them, including one that will be exclusive just to the network’s streaming service, Peacock. When NBC has two games on the first weekend of the playoffs, its No. 1 college team, Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge, along with sideline reporter Kathryn Tappen, will be on the call.”
According to Marchand, Michaels was “caught off guard” by the decision from NBC brass, and was thinking as late as last month that he would be on the call.
“Michaels’ swap-out by NBC has been in the works for awhile, though Michaels was apparently caught off guard. During an early November interview with The Post, Michaels said he believed that he was still going to call the game on NBC, but did not know whom he would be working with,” Marchand wrote. “When informed by The Post about it being in limbo, Michaels sounded unaware of the possibility.
“… 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.”
Alas, Michaels will still remain involved with the NFL, as he has one more year on his Amazon deal, and Marchand noted that Michaels told The Post in November he plans on returning.
Regardless, it’ll be odd not to hear Al Michaels when the NFL playoffs roll around. NBC is moving in a different direction, and times are certainly changing.
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