Al Michaels still is not doing himself any favors on the air these days.
The veteran sportscaster Michaels drew attention for the wrong reasons during this week’s edition of “Thursday Night Football” between the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers. Michaels was on the call for Amazon Prime during the game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc. and made a bad mistake in the first quarter.
While narrating Michael Penix Jr’s return to action after a suffering partially torn ACL last November, Michaels mistakenly said Penix went to college at Oregon. In reality, Penix actually attended the University of Washington.
Al Michaels is already drunk. He said Michael Penix went to Oregon when he actually went to Washington. pic.twitter.com/mzLsfYpodj
— Chad Fisher DNP (@ChadFisher) September 25, 2026
Fans were not kind to Michaels and proceeded to skewer him online for the error.
Al Michaels just called Michael Penix Jr. an Oregon Duck pic.twitter.com/fRxcQmcWKJ
— UW Dawg Pound (@UWonSBN) September 25, 2026
Al Michaels just committed the cardinal sin of football, saying Michael Penix had “two greats years at Oregon.”
— Kevin Jackson (@glove20kj) September 25, 2026
He corrected himself after my blood pressure had already spike. #GoHuskies
Did Al Michaels just say that Penix went to Oregon or did my TV just trip
— Ben Houselog (@benlikessport) September 25, 2026
Al Michaels already making a mistake saying Penix played at Oregon without a snap happening yet. #Washed
— Golf Bet Caddie (@GolfBetCaddie) September 25, 2026
Oregon and Washington are at least geographically close to each other and both now play in the Big Ten (after previously being in the Pac-12 together). But those two schools are still major rivals, so fans were not having that mistake by Michaels, who would eventually issue a correction on the air.
Michaels, now 81 years old, has been widely criticized throughout his run with Amazon Prime for his seemingly unenthusiastic calls as well as occasional glaring errors. On the bright side though for Michaels during this week’s “TNF,” Penix did plenty to embarrass himself otherwise and take the attention away from the announcing goof.
