NBC Drops Al Michaels From NFL Playoff Coverage

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Broadcaster Al Michaels' time at NBC appears to be at the end. The network previously removed the longtime Sunday Night Football play-by-play man from that position and replaced him with Mike Tirico.

Michael moved to Amazon Prime to call Thursday Night Football. But, he remained with NBC and called NFL playoff games last season. He also called the 2022 Super Bowl, in which the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.

According to the New York Post, though, NBC decided to move on from Michaels this season. In his stead, the network is promoting Noah Eagle -- the son of CBS broadcaster Ian Eagle -- to call one of the network's three NFL playoff games.

NBC is moving on from Al Michaels for the NFL Playoffs this season, replacing him with Noah Eagle for one game in January.

NBC is moving on from Al Michaels for the NFL Playoffs this season, replacing him with Noah Eagle for one game in January. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth, the current Sunday Night Football duo, will call the other two.

The Post interviewed Michaels last month and he indicated that he expected to remain with NBC and call the playoff game. The paper had learned that NBC was considering not using Michaels this season.

“It’s in my deal,” Michaels said in November. “Where are you hearing that from? That’s part of my deal. Are you hearing something that I’m not hearing?”

In 2006, ESPN famously traded Michaels to NBC for a package that included the rights to "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit."

Michaels called Sunday Night Football for the network for 15 years from 2006-21 before Tirico took over.

NBC is moving on from Al Michaels for the NFL Playoffs this season, replacing him with Noah Eagle for one game in January. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

NBC's next Super Bowl comes in 2026, presumably to be called by Tirico and Collinsworth.

Michaels has called 11 Super Bowls in his career, tied with Pat Summerall for the most all-time. With his time at NBC seemingly up, it's hard to envision Michaels breaking that tie.

His contract with Amazon runs through next season and he expects to continue calling Thursday Night Football despite criticisms about "sounding bored" during the games.

To be fair to Michaels, though, Thursday Night Football games are usually boring.

That could be the final NFL season in Michaels' Hall of Fame broadcasting career.

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Dan began his sports media career at ESPN, where he survived for nearly a decade. Once the Stockholm Syndrome cleared, he made his way to OutKick. He is secure enough in his masculinity to admit he is a cat-enthusiast with three cats, one of which is named "Brady" because his wife wishes she were married to Tom instead of him.