A fast start to Thursday's game on Amazon Prime Video saw Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London score an early touchdown before Buccaneers quarterback Kirk Cousins found Evans wide-open in the end zone on the following drive. A stunning play call by the Buccaneers completely fooled the Falcons, and fans are angry at Michaels' lack of enthusiasm when reacting to the touchdown.
"Al Michaels, with all due respect: The game ain’t in you no more," one fan wrote on X. "Al Michaels needs to retire or be replaced after this season," another added.
"The Thursday night broadcast on Prime is unwatchable. Al Michaels needs to hang it up," one fan claimed. One X user then showed major respect to Michaels but also agreed that his time on Amazon may be coming to an end.
"Some of these NFL broadcasts do a poor job of conveying the atmosphere at the game. I wanna hear more crowd noise. I wanna feel closer to the action. Also, Al Michaels is a legend, but man I have a hard time being into a game he’s calling at this point."
Michaels, 79, has been working in sports television since 1971 but has been calling NFL games since 1986. Michaels was the voice of "Monday Night Football" on ABC from 1986 to 2005, before switching to NBC's "Sunday Night Football" in 2006.
In 2021, Michaels stepped aside and has since joined Amazon's coverage after it secured an exclusive 10-year rights deal with the NFL to broadcast "Thursday Night Football" from 2023. Amazon is paying approximately $1 billion per year to host the rights on its digital platforms.
The criticism of Michaels picked up last season, but has gained momentum through the first four weeks of the 2024 campaign. Michaels is aware of the hate, and appeared on "The Pat McAfee Show" to defend himself before calling Buccaneers-Falcons on Oct. 3.
"It’s a 60-minute game," Michaels said. "If you scream your guts out in the first five minutes, where are you going to go? I don’t scream the game at you, I don’t holler the game at you. You look at Joe Buck and Jim Nantz and myself, we did like 17 of the last 18 Super Bowls, we don’t scream the game at you, we don’t holler the game at you."
Michaels later added: "There's an appreciation of what you do as your career moves on. My mindset always is that you've gotta be as good tonight as you've ever been. I know that this isn't gonna last forever and I'm trying to get as much enjoyment out of it as I can"
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