Al Michaels is facing an uncertain future at NBC beyond the 2021 season, and all signs continue to point to him departing as the network’s lead play-by-play man for “Sunday Night Football.”
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported on Monday that he is almost certain Michaels will be hired as Amazon’s lead NFL announcer following the season. While the two sides have not finalized an agreement, Marchand said he would “put money on it” and that one of his sources put the chances of it happening at 95 percent.
Amazon will begin streaming “Thursday Night Football” exclusively next season. Even if Michaels takes the job, Marchand notes that the 76-year-old could still have some sort of role with NBC. Mike Tirico is expected to replace him as the play-by-play announcer for “Sunday Night Football,” but Michaels could call playoff games for the network.
Michaels has been calling “Sunday Night Football” since 2006. He was with ESPN/ABC for “Monday Night Football” from 1986-2005 prior to that. He and longtime partner Cris Collinsworth will call the Super Bowl this year, and there has been speculation that Michaels could retire after that. He said before the season that he is not thinking about what comes next.
NBC hired Tirico several years ago as an eventual replacement for Michaels. Drew Brees began working as an analyst for the network this season, and there has been talk of him replacing Collinsworth as the color commentator for “Sunday Night Football.”
Amazon likely has a dream partner in mind for Michaels, but that may be too good to be true.
