Al Michaels achieved many accomplishments during his Hall of Fame broadcasting career.
However, what he accomplished this season may stand the test of time – 40 years as an announcer on one of the NFL's primetime packages.
According to company research 506 Sports ArchiveThe Christmas Day game between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs on Prime Video will be his 779th NFL broadcast.
“I mean, it's been a fantastic ride. I mean, it's incredible because it came out of nowhere back in 1986,” Michaels said. “I think about 40 years old, at 40 years old you don't think in those terms, but here we are. It's hard to believe, but I'm happy and grateful.”
With the exception of two years in 1974 and 1975, when Michaels hosted daytime games for NBC and CBS, Michaels' broadcasts were primarily in prime time. He also won 11 Super Bowls, tied with Pat Summerall.
Michaels was the voice of ABC's “Monday Night Football” from 1986 to 2005. He was then traded to NBC when it launched “Sunday Night Football” in 2006, and he extended that package through 2021. This is his fourth season on Prime Video's “Thursday Night Football.”
Michaels is the NFL's dean of play-by-play announcers. CBS' Kevin Harlan is the closest among active announcers at 542, and it would take him at least 13 seasons to catch Michaels when he decides to retire.
Michaels, who turned 81 in November, shows no signs of slowing down.
“We've all played so many big games at this point, but he gets really excited when he has the opportunity to make a big game. And you can't say that about a lot of people in our business,” said Fred Gaudelli, who produced Michaels for 23 seasons. “After a certain time, you lose the fire in your belly to really do it, and he never lost that.”
Kirk Herbstreit, now in his fourth season as Michaels' partner, said he has come to appreciate Michaels' ability to control the broadcast.
“I've always noticed that the bigger the moment, when you really feel a sense of urgency as a broadcaster, Al becomes calmer and just waits for the right moment to bring his voice to that crescendo,” he said. “I'm just amazed at how he does his job, how organized and prepared he is and how much he loves it. That's what I really think. He's all about himself, loves sports and loves telling stories.”
Michaels worked with eight analysts. Cris Collinsworth has been with him the longest, 13 seasons, and his seven years with John Madden rank among the best pairings on the stand.
ABC Sports executive Dennis Swanson decided to bring Michaels on board and move Frank Gifford to an analyst position on “Monday Night Football” after the firings of O.J. Simpson and Joe Namath.
Michaels had been with ABC since 1976 and was best known for his baseball coverage and the USA hockey team's gold medal win at the 1980 Olympics.
Gifford was the head play-by-play announcer from 1971 to 1985, but Swanson wanted a more traditional play-by-play announcer at the helm of what was then the NFL's signature package.
In 1987, “Monday Night Football” returned to a three-person booth when Dan Deardorff joined from CBS. He, Michaels and Gifford worked together for 11 seasons, including three Super Bowls.
“Frank and I got along great, but I think Swanson and the people at ABC felt that Frank had been out of the game for so long that they needed or felt they needed to bring in someone more modern,” Michaels said. “Dan was an easy fit for us. I mean, a three-man booth is never easy, and it's hard for the analysts because they have to decide who's going to come in at what point, but it was a natural flow.”
The most unique stand was during the 2000 and 2001 seasons, when Michaels was paired with Dan Fouts and comedian Dennis Miller. This also created an interesting dynamic for Michaels.
“It was so different from anything I’ve done in my 50-year career,” Michaels said. “It was difficult because my biggest problem was that Dennis had a lot of really good lines, but if I laughed too much, I'd sound like a hyena. And if I didn't laugh, then people would say, Al hates him. Dan tries to do regular analysis, and we had to adjust and adapt.
“I remember those years fondly because they were different. I love to laugh, and working with Dennis Miller, you'll laugh a lot. I laughed off-air and on-air.”
Michaels said Miller's greatest line came during the New York Jets' wild win over the Miami Dolphins in 2000, when Jets offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott caught a touchdown pass and sent it into overtime.
“That's the first touchdown of his career, and Dennis immediately jumped in and said, 'couldn't hold it down forever,' which was just a phenomenal line, phenomenal in that moment. So that was Dennis at his best. You just seize the moment and say something meaningful like that. It's funny,” Michaels said.
Michaels has been part of the two-person booth since 2002, when Madden moved from Fox to join “Monday Night Football.” They worked together for seven seasons, including a move to NBC in 2006 when “Sunday Night Football” launched.
Their first broadcast together was the 2002 Hall of Fame game. By the second commercial break, Michaels felt like their partnership had become a natural fit.
Michaels' toughest season came in 2005, his last on ABC before Monday Night Football moved to ESPN. Madden went to NBC, as did producer Gaudelli and director Drew Esokoff. After Super Bowl 40, Michaels was traded to NBC in exchange for the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the predecessor to Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, which eventually came under NBC's control.
The Prime Video broadcast subtly celebrates Michaels' long career with a segment called “Al-Manak”, which shows a key moment of Michaels' great game and shares his memories of the game or game.
Mark Teitelman, lead producer of “Thursday Night Football,” said Michaels' history of making big plays and ability to tell stories made him a natural addition.
“There's a pretty good chance if this is the game you remember Al calling it a game,” Teitelman said.
Michaels' favorite game remains Super Bowl 43 in 2009, when the Pittsburgh Steelers rallied to beat the Arizona Cardinals. In addition to Santonio Holmes' 6-yard touchdown catch with 35 seconds left, the game also included a 100-yard interception return by James Harrison on the final play of the first half.
This was also Madden's last game as an analyst. Three months later he announced his retirement.
Michaels felt energized working with Herbstreit, who is the busiest man in football between college work and the NFL.
“I don't know how he does it. He has tremendous energy and he's extremely well prepared,” Michaels said. “We have a lot of fun. I think we have a great relationship, give and take. It's natural. It took a while to become natural, but it happens to anyone. And once we started, it's great.”
Prime Video averaged 14.96 million viewers, making it the most-watched season since the launch of the regular Thursday night package in 2006. That's up 13% from last year's average and a huge jump from the 9.58 million average in Prime Video's first year in 2022.
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