Al Michaels has made a decision on his broadcasting future, and it is not one that most NFL fans are thrilled about.
Amazon Prime confirmed that Michaels will return for “Thursday Night Football” in 2026 as the play-by-play voice. The 81-year-old said he still feels great and capable of doing a good job.
“First of all, I feel great,” Michaels told Richard Deitsch of Sports Business Journal. “Everyone at Amazon has been fantastic and I love working with this group. I’ve been looking at this year one year at a time and as long as I feel I’m at the top of my game, I’d like to continue.”
Fans, however, were not as enthusiastic about the news. Many feel Michaels has lost a step and had hoped he would step aside and retire. Others criticized Amazon for not taking the decision out of his hands.
Love Al Michaels. Legend. But watching him call games lately feels like he’s well behind everything happening on the field. If he wants to keep doing it, fine. Prime’s audience is huge though. Broadcast matters. Someone needed to step in. This can’t keep being the standard. https://t.co/zRviS5bd9M
— Rob Pizzola (@robpizzola) January 9, 2026
Al Michaels has had an incredible career as a broadcaster and this is absolutely the wrong move. Those statements aren’t mutually exclusive. Every TNF game — and I mean EVERY single one — is followed by exasperation from fans regarding Michaels’ performance. This is just sad. https://t.co/fZcw1xYIxm
— Keith Leonard (@Keith_Leonard) January 9, 2026
Al Michaels an absolute legend but its beyond the time.
— Ryan (@datboywolf) January 9, 2026
Al Michaels is one of the all-time greats, but it has been time for a few years now. He comes off as disinterested in the game he's doing at least 75% of the time. He's 82. Someone else should be in that chair.
— Chris Mueller (@ChrisMuellerPGH) January 9, 2026
None of these reactions are new. Michaels’ performances have been a regular source of complaints on social media all year long. The perceived issues have only been magnified as the NFL has given Amazon more prominent games, including Saturday’s Wild Card playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears.
Michaels is a legend, and there are those who will say that he has earned the right to decide when to end his career. Plenty of others disagree, though, and aren’t looking forward to his 41st season of NFL broadcasting.
