NBC Ditching Al Michaels For the NFL Playoffs Is Obviously the Right Decision
By Liam McKeone
Al Michaels may not give a singular damn about the basement bloggers who think he's fallen off, but it appears that opinion is shared by people who make decisions at NBC. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post dropped the bombshell this morning that Michaels would not be on the call for NBC for any of the network's playoff games this year-- a move that apparently surprised the longtime broadcaster.
Per the Post:
The legendary Al Michaels is out of NBC’s NFL playoff coverage, The Post has learned.
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.
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.
It sure sounds like NBC pulled the rug out from Michaels. Which is pretty nuts for maybe the most storied broadcaster in the history of sports. He's certainly the most recognizable name among those working in the booth nowadays and NBC got so tired of waiting for him to leave that they shoved him out the door.
It is obviously the correct decision, though. No moral outrage will be found in this column. Michaels is a legend, for sure. He's also fallen off dramatically. No matter how many times he fires back at critics it doesn't change the fact that Michaels has apparently forgotten how to inject any enthusiasm or interest into his calls. All NBC has to do to justify this decision is play the tape of last year's Chargers-Jaguars playoff game with Michaels and Tony Dungy on the call. It was maybe the single most exciting playoff game since the Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl and Michaels and Dungy sounded like they were at a wake for an acquaintance neither really liked. It was an NFL classic that NBC could have used to show how great their broadcasts are for decades and instead they have to work around Michaels and Dungy's bored tones.
Of course NBC wouldn't want to even risk having that happen again. Of course they don't want to throw Michaels on their first-ever playoff game exclusive to Peacock. Of course they'd much rather have rising sports media star Noah Eagle on the call. It is the logical and correct decision in every universe.
How they seem to have handled it is going to be the problem. Michaels hasn't hesitated to complain in media appearances recently. Given his reaction above when Marchand mentioned this possibility back in November he might have a lot to say about how it all went down.
Certainly worth monitoring. In the meantime we can all be happy that we'll get three quality NFL playoff broadcasts from NBC instead of two quality broadcasts and one more suited for the retirement home.