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Al Michaels achieved many achievements during his tenure Hall of Fame Broadcasting career.
However, what he has achieved this season may stand the test of time – 40 years as a play-by-play announcer for one of the NFL’s primetime packages.
According to research from the 506 Sports archive, the Christmas night game between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs will be their 779th on Prime Video nfl broadcast.
Michaels said, “I mean, it’s been a great journey. I mean, it’s unbelievable because it came out of the blue in 1986.” “I’m thinking about 40 years, when you’re 40 you don’t think in those terms, but here we are. It’s hard to believe, but I’m blessed and grateful.”
Except for two years in 1974 and ’75, when Michaels played afternoon games. nbc And cbsMichaels’ broadcasts have been mostly in prime time. He has also called 11 Super Bowls, tying Pat Summerall.
Michaels was the play-by-play voice for ABC’s “Monday Night Football” from 1986 to 2005. He was traded to NBC in 2006 when NBC launched “Sunday Night Football” and called that package through 2021. This is his fourth season on Prime Video’s “Thursday Night Football”.
Michaels is the dean of NFL announcers in terms of sports references. CBS’s Kevin Harlan is the closest among active announcers with 542, and will need at least 13 seasons to catch him whenever Michaels decides to retire.
Michaels, who turned 81 in November, shows no signs of slowing down.
“We’ve all done a lot of big games at this point, but he gets really excited when he gets an opportunity to do a big game. And you can’t say that for a lot of guys in our business,” said Fred Gaudelli, who was Michaels’ producer for 23 seasons. “After a certain time, you lose that fire in your stomach to actually do it, and he’s never lost that.”
Kirk Herbstreit, who is in his fourth season as Michaels’ partner, said he has come to appreciate Michaels’ ability to manage the broadcast.
He said, “I’ve always found that the bigger the moment, when you really feel the urgency as a broadcaster, Al calms down and waits for the right moment to bring his voice to its peak.” “I’m amazed at how he does his job, how organized and prepared he is and how much he loves it. It really comes out to me. He’s totally dedicated, loves the game and loves telling stories.”
40’s way
Michaels worked with eight analysts. Chris Collinsworth had his longest tenure with him at 13 seasons, while his seven years with John Madden rank among the best booth pairings.
ABC Sports executive Dennis Swanson decided to bring Michaels on board and move Frank Gifford to the analyst position at “Monday Night Football” after firing OJ Simpson and Joe Namath.
Michaels had worked for ABC since 1976 and was best known for his baseball coverage and the U.S. hockey team’s gold medal win at the 1980 Olympics.
Gifford had been the lead announcer from 1971 to ’85, but Swanson wanted a more traditional play-by-play announcer at the top of the NFL’s signature package.
In 1987, “Monday Night Football” returned to a three-man booth when Dan Dierdorf joined from CBS. He, Michaels and Gifford worked together for 11 seasons, including three Super Bowls.
Michaels said, “Frank and I had a great relationship, but I think the feeling was from Swanson and the people at ABC that Frank had been out of the game for so long that they needed to bring in someone more contemporary or they felt they needed to.” “Dan was an easy fit for us. I mean, a three-man booth is never easy, and it’s hard for analysts because they have to decide who’s coming in at what point, but it was a natural flow.”
dennis miller experience
The most unique booth was the 2000 and ’01 season when Michaels was paired with Dan Fouts and comedian Dennis Miller. It also created an interesting dynamic for Michaels.
Michaels said, “It was very different from anything I’ve done in my entire 50-year career.” “It wasn’t easy because my biggest problem was that Dennis had a lot of good lines, but if I laughed too much, I’d sound like a hyena. And if I didn’t laugh, people would say, Al hates that. Dan is trying to do routine analysis, and we have to adjust and adapt.
“I remember those years very fondly because they were different. I love to laugh, and working with Dennis Miller will make you laugh a lot. I laughed off the air as well as on the air.”
Michaels said Miller’s greatest line came during the New York Jets’ wild comeback win over the Miami Dolphins in 2000, when Jets offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott caught a TD pass to send it into overtime.
“It’s the first touchdown of his career, and Dennis screams right out and says, ‘Can’t keep him down forever,’ which was a phenomenal line, phenomenal in that moment. So that was Dennis at his best. You’re just capturing a moment, saying something pithy like that. It’s fun,” Michaels said.
Back to the two-man booth
Michaels has been part of the two-man booth since 2002, when Madden came over from Fox to join “Monday Night Football.” They worked together for seven seasons, including a move to NBC in 2006 when “Sunday Night Football” debuted.
Their first broadcast together was the 2002 Hall of Fame Game. By the second commercial break, Michaels felt that their partnership was already a natural one.
Michaels’ most difficult season was 2005, which was the last season on ABC before “Monday Night Football” moved to ESPN. Madden went to NBC, along with producer Gaudelli and director Drew Ascoff. After Super Bowl 40, Michaels was traded to NBC in exchange for the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse prequel which ended up under NBC’s control.
Al-Manaq
The “Prime Video” broadcast has subtly celebrated Michaels’ long career with a segment called “The Al-Manack”, where a key moment from a great game called by Michaels is shown, and he gives his memories of the game or play.
“Thursday Night Football” lead game producer Mark Teitelman said Michaels’ history of calling big games and storytelling ability made it a natural fit.
Teitelman said, “If it’s a game you remember, there’s a very good chance Al called that game.”
Michaels’ favorite game remains Super Bowl 43 in 2009 when the Pittsburgh Steelers rallied to defeat the Arizona Cardinals. In addition to Santonio Holmes’ 6-yard TD catch with 35 seconds remaining, the game also included James Harrison’s 100-yard interception return on the last play of the first half.
This was also Madden’s last game as an analyst. He announced his retirement three months later.
Michaels has felt a jolt of energy working with Herbstreit, who is the busiest man in football between his college and NFL duties.
Michaels said, “I don’t know how he does it. He has tremendous energy and is very well prepared.” “We have a lot of fun. I think we have a great back-and-forth, give-and-take relationship. It’s natural. It took a while for it to become natural, but it happens with anyone. And once we got going, great.”
The season averaged 14.96 million viewers on Prime Video, making it the most watched season since the regular Thursday night package began in 2006. This is a 13% increase from last year’s average and a big jump from the average of 9.58 million during Prime Video’s first year in 2022.
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