Al Michaels recently completed his 37th year calling an NFL prime-time package, a season that was particularly notable given his role as the frontman for Amazon Prime Video\u2019s $13.2 billion NFL live-game streaming experiment. Michaels will call the Chargers\u2013Jaguars playoff game Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET on NBC before, as he says, \u201cRip Van Winkling until August.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, I sat down with Michaels for an extended chat on his first season in the booth for Amazon and how he saw Joe Buck\u2019s role in calling the Jan. 2 \u201cMonday Night Football\u201d game in which Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was injured. You can listen to the interview in full here as part of the Sports Media Podcast.<\/p>\n
(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)<\/em><\/p>\n How would you analyze Year 1 for you at Amazon?<\/strong><\/p>\n It probably, in a way, exceeded my expectations. I thought (the production) would look good, but I didn\u2019t think it would necessarily be that<\/em> good. For that, I credit (executive producer) Fred Gaudelli and a lot of the people that he brought over. If you go back a year or so, Amazon didn\u2019t have any infrastructure. \u2026 I knew once they got Fred involved in this thing, it was going to look big. Obviously, they didn\u2019t want any kind of a rinky-dink, second-rate production. Amazon was totally into this thing completely. \u2026 I think they were very happy with the way it turned out because frankly, and it\u2019s not a brag either, I\u2019d put our production of the way it looked up against any network production this year.<\/p>\n You\u2019ve done Super Bowls, the biggest games, etc. That said, you still want compelling, exciting games on Amazon. This year, you had a couple of duds. There are some who suggested you were ticked off at the competitiveness of some of these games and let us know about that on air. <\/strong><\/p>\n I think I\u2019m to the point in my life and career, having watched sports since I was 6 years old, I feel what the crowd feels. The Denver-Indianapolis game (in) Week 4 was a dreadful game. No other way to describe it. No touchdowns. In fact, at one point during the game, I said to (analyst) Kirk (Herbstreit), \u201cIs it possible this game could be so bad that it\u2019s actually good?\u201d He\u2019d never heard that from a partner and went, \u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re going to overtime and there\u2019s 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, \u201cI can\u2019t believe it\u2019s overtime and they are leaving.\u201d I said they\u2019d seen enough. Sometimes you just have to beat the traffic. So, look, was that snarky? I guess, in a way. But you can\u2019t tell me that didn\u2019t reflect the feelings of a lot of people, probably the majority of people watching that game. \u2026<\/p>\n A lot of people said, \u201cAl\u2019s bored, Al\u2019s pissed off that he\u2019s doing this.\u201d Not the case. Monday nights, Sunday night, I did things like this. Maybe not to that degree, but I try to echo the feelings of what the fan feels because I\u2019m a fan.<\/p>\n Do you hear anything from Amazon management about this? <\/strong><\/p>\n From the Amazon people, nothing but support. I think they understood what this was. We\u2019re making the most of it. I mean, you just can\u2019t oversell something. Do you want me to sell you a 20-year-old Mazda? That\u2019s what you\u2019re asking me to do. I can\u2019t sell you a used car. \u2026 I\u2019ve kind of gone down that road a little bit in games that have been bad in the past. But this game was horrifically bad. What were you supposed to do at that point? And away I went.<\/p>\n How did you feel your dynamic was with Kirk?<\/strong><\/p>\n I thought it worked out very well because what he did this year was astonishing to me. I mean, he would do a game on Thursday night. Then he would fly out after the game. He would go from, say, Green Bay to Bozeman, Montana, to have meetings on Friday morning at 9 (a.m.) local time. Then he\u2019d get up on Saturday and do a three-hour (\u201cCollege GameDay\u201d) show for ESPN and then \u2026 fly to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, or Austin or wherever he was going and do a game that night. It was astonishing. This was something that to me is unparalleled in the history of our business, to be able to do it and do it well. He is tremendously prepared.<\/p>\n When he came in, a lot of people said, \u201cWell, he doesn\u2019t know the NFL.\u201d I said, \u201cHold on a second. Football is football.\u201d Of course, we know there are differences between pro and college. But Kirk knows that, too. \u2026 As the year went by, our pacing got better to where we wanted to go. It was never an issue to the point where it was a problem. But he\u2019s a perfectionist. I\u2019m a perfectionist. We wanted this thing to be as perfect as it could be.<\/p>\n We knew you were going to get a playoff game this year, and Chargers-Jaguars turns out to be an excellent playoff game. It\u2019s a nice coda for you for the season, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n No question. This was part of the deal that we made at NBC. \u2026 A lot of the people I worked with this year at Amazon, it\u2019s not like I was going into a totally mysterious operation with people I didn\u2019t know. I\u2019ve worked with a lot of these people. It\u2019s a game, and just on a different platform. We\u2019re back on the NBC platform instead of the Amazon platform. I\u2019m excited about it.<\/p>\n When I saw the possibility of this game winding up on NBC, I was excited about it because we had Jacksonville a couple of weeks ago against the Jets. \u2026 I found them to be a very entertaining team and they certainly were down the stretch. Living in Los Angeles, obviously, I know a lot about the Chargers and have had a number of their games through the years. \u2026 I\u2019m looking at this game and thinking this is one of the spotlight games of this weekend.<\/p>\n You have faced pretty much every situation a play-by-play person could face during a career.\u00a0But what Joe Buck faced on Jan. 2 with Damar Hamlin was uncharted territory. What you were thinking about when you watched Joe and Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters and that broadcast?<\/strong>\u00ad<\/p>\n When you\u2019re in a situation like that, what you have to understand is that the only information you can get has to be from sources you can trust. Those obviously start in the truck with the producer. In the case with Joe \u2014 I thought Joe and Troy did a great job with this \u2014 they were very human about this. We all felt the same way. Everybody wants to have the latest information, but nobody could get the latest information at that point. They\u2019re saving a guy\u2019s life on the field. There\u2019s not much more to be said at that point. You don\u2019t know anything. Anything else would be ridiculous speculation.<\/p>\n I know ESPN took a little bit in the neck (for Buck reporting on-air that the teams were told they\u2019d have five minutes to warm up before resuming play), and they shouldn\u2019t have, because there was clearly a process whereby there was communication between maybe John Parry, their rules analyst, who is in communication with the officiating department. \u2026 I know (NFL executive vice president of football operations) Troy Vincent was over the top about,\u201dWe never said that.\u201d Well, wait a minute.<\/p>\n Who knows what really took place here? That could be making up something on the back end of it, or maybe he didn\u2019t know what was said. But clearly, Joe didn\u2019t just say that out of thin air. Joe got what he considered to be information from a very reliable source. I thought he handled it well. And I thought ESPN took it in the neck from some people in a way they should not have.<\/p>\n Am I making a fair and correct hypothesis that if someone in your position presented information that was not accurate, the NFL is absolutely in contact with your booth, and you would be correcting that information to the public? <\/strong><\/p>\n No doubt about it. In that situation, you should name a source. I think you have to say who told you. You can\u2019t hide behind a screen because we\u2019re the ones who are out there. We\u2019re not hiding. We can\u2019t. The curtain is up. So I think when you get information, who did it come from? The league is a big entity. I would always be of a mind to say, \u201cThis is what we\u2019ve heard and this is who we heard it from.\u201d<\/p>\n Are you scheduled to do anything between next week and August? <\/strong><\/p>\n Not at the moment, I have an emeritus deal with NBC. They can use me for certain events. I might want to be a part of some things down the line. As part of the Amazon deal, I might do some off-air things for them. But for the most part, I\u2019ll be resting. I\u2019ll be Rip Van Winkling until August.<\/p>\n Sean McVay is someone you consider a friend. How would you envision McVay as a broadcaster should he enter the business? <\/strong><\/p>\n I think he\u2019ll be terrific. He is 36 years old, and I\u2019m always amazed at how smart he is. Not just football smart, but world smart. \u2026<\/p>\n Last year he needed some time after winning the Super Bowl. It was well known that Amazon was looking at him at that point. Before Amazon had me, before they had anybody, Troy Aikman was obviously in the mix and there was some talk about John Lynch being in the mix. There was certainly some talk about Sean McVay being in the mix. \u2026<\/p>\n I think Sean is going to take some time. He\u2019s been (a head coach) for six years. That\u2019s not that long. He\u2019s still the youngest coach in the league. He will be excellent in the booth if he wants to do it. I think he\u2019s the kind of guy that would relish being at the games. It\u2019s one thing to sit in a studio and a green room. You watch all of the games. You come out at halftime or the end of the game and you say a few words with an ensemble. I think what Sean would enjoy is being in the fray, and that is at the games, going to practices, meeting with the players and the coaches.<\/p>\n Having talked to Fred Gaudelli for many years, (Steelers coach) Mike Tomlin is someone who\u2019s always been at the top of Fred\u2018s and many other executive lists of someone currently playing or coaching with great broadcaster potential. Who comes to mind if I asked you for a current player or coach other than McVay who could be good at this?<\/strong><\/p>\n Mike Tomlin is just great. (He) has a way of describing the mundane in a very original and unique manner. \u2026 He has great perspective as well. So Tomlin, clearly. (Ravens coach) John Harbaugh is another guy who I think would be great at this.<\/p>\n Among the players, there are a number. Look, Tom Brady is out there. I think Tom will be better than a lot of people think he\u2019ll be. The one thing I know about Brady having known him obviously for a long time: If Tom does something, he is all in. He\u2019s not going to say, I\u2019m Tom Brady and I\u2019m going to show up and make $37 million, or whatever that number was that Fox was going to pay him, and just show up. He\u2019ll immerse himself.<\/p>\n I feel like Greg Olsen (the current Fox No. 1 analyst, who stands to be replaced by Brady if and when he joins Fox) has played this beautifully. If nothing else, he\u2019s risen his stature as an analyst, no?<\/strong><\/p>\n Agree totally. A very unusual situation, obviously. Joe Buck leaves. Aikman leaves. Kevin Burkhardt ascends. So now what are they going to do? Who do you put in there? He was the next guy down the line. I give him a lot of credit because he sounds anything like a guy who\u2019s looking over his shoulder. He\u2019s been very confident on the air. I think he\u2019s done a really good job. There\u2019s an elephant in that room. Can you keep the elephant in the backyard for a while? And maybe that elephant will stay in the backyard three or four more years. Maybe the elephant will never come into the house. You never know.<\/p>\n CBS Sports\u2019 Jim Nantz has had a storied sports broadcasting career, calling NFL games now for five decades, including multiple games watched by more than 100 million viewers. But never had he experienced what he did on Sunday afternoon in Buffalo at Highmark Stadium \u2014 and The Athletic<\/em> talked to him about it.<\/p>\n Via NPR<\/a>: How Damar Hamlin\u2019s collapse fueled anti-vaccine conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n Great reporting by ESPN\u2019s Don Van Natta Jr. on how the Bills and Bengals led the way after Hamlin collapsed. This details the contradictions between what Buck said on television and what the NFL said afterward.<\/p>\n Front Office Sports\u2019 A.J. Perez reports that two former ESPN employees have alleged in a federal lawsuit that the company\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine requirement violated their religious freedom rights.<\/p>\n Interesting piece here from Fox Sports lead NFL producer Richie Zyontz on his relationship with Kevin Burkhardt.<\/p>\n The Athletic<\/em>\u2019s Pablo Maurer on Apple\/MLS\u2019 broadcast hires.<\/p>\n Georgia\u2019s 65-7 rout of TCU produced the least-watched championship game since the BCS era began in 1999. The game drew 17.2 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. The previous low for a title game in the CFP or BCS era was 18.7 million after the 2020 season, per Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal, when Alabama beat Ohio State. The channel breakdown was 16.626 million viewers for ESPN; 483,000 viewers on ESPN2; and 114,000 viewers on ESPNU. The Sports TV Ratings Twitter account<\/a>, run by Robert Seidman, said viewership was just 10.3 million in the final quarter-hour (10:45-11 p.m.). The three-game playoff of the Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and national championship averaged 20.6 million viewers, up 9 percent year-over-year, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n GO DEEPER<\/p>\n What to make of Amazon’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ ratings in Year 1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n (Photo: George Walker IV \/ USA Today)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"go-deeper\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.theathletic.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto\/app\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10170252\/GettyImages-1426360566-1024x683.jpg\")
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