Al Michaels completely botched call of Jaguars’ winning touchdown
Dec 29, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Amazon Prime sportscaster Al Michaels walks on the field before the game between the Tennessee Titans and the Dallas Cowboys at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Al Michaels has generated a newsworthy clip nearly every week while calling “Thursday Night Football” for Amazon this season. He did so again in Week 7, though not for a good reason.
Michaels completely botched his call of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ winning touchdown in the team’s 31-24 road win over the New Orleans Saints.
The Jags broke a 24-24 tie with the Saints on a 44-yard touchdown catch by Christian Kirk with 3:08 left in the game.
Kirk had caught a short pass over the middle and ran over 40 yards after the catch for the touchdown. There seemed to be no doubt about whether or not Kirk had scored on the play, but Michaels was confused on his call.
“Christian Kirk, inside the 20 … and he goes … and Christian Kirk takes the ball all the way … to about the 1-yard line,” Michaels said as Kirk was celebrating his touchdown. “They’ll spot it … as [Kirk] thinks he scored the touchdown. And they’re going to call it a touchdown now.”
Time to retire, Al Michaels. #TNFonPrime #ThursdayNightFootball pic.twitter.com/2lICq8jwKn
— Kevin Lagowski (@BigLagowski) October 20, 2023
What in the world happened there? It felt like the only one who didn’t know it was a touchdown was Michaels. Did he think Kirk had stepped out of bounds inside the 5-yard line?
Michaels is a broadcasting legend, but he’s had some moments this season that he’d want to have back. This error is probably at the top of the list.
