NBC announces big Al Michaels news ahead of NFL playoffs

Aug 26, 2018; Arlington, TX, USA; Network television commentator Al Michaels before the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Many NFL fans were disappointed when Al Michaels left NBC to join Amazon this season, but the legendary broadcaster is returning to his old role for one game.

NBC announced this week that Michaels will be the play-by-play announcer for Saturday night’s wild-card game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars. Tony Dungy will serve as color analyst alongside Michaels.

This was the plan all along for Michaels and NBC. When the 78-year-old accepted his new job with “Thursday Night Football” on Amazon, NBC moved him to an emeritus role with the network. That allowed Michaels to continue working with NBC for the Olympics and call one NFL postseason game.

Michaels worked with Kirk Herbstreit on Amazon broadcasts, but Herbstreit is not an NBC employee. Dungy appears regularly on “Football Night in America” and has called games in the past for NBC.

Mike Tirico was promoted to lead NFL announcer with NBC after Michaels left for Amazon. Tirico and analyst Cris Collinsworth will call Sunday night’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.

Michaels got a massive raise when he moved from NBC to Amazon. It is nice that the legendary announcer will still be part of playoff coverage.