Veteran broadcaster Al Michaels became the story of Thursday Night Football before Atlanta’s offense had even run a single meaningful play, thanks to a string of on-air mistakes packed into the opening minutes of the broadcast.
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Calling the Falcons’ first drive on Prime Video, Michaels was narrating quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s return to the field, his first game action since tearing his ACL in Week 11 last season, when he told viewers Penix had “two great years at Oregon.” In reality, Penix spent his final two college seasons at the University of Washington, a program locked in a bitter rivalry with Oregon, making the mix-up especially jarring for anyone watching closely.
Michaels wasn’t done. Moments later, on that same opening drive, he referred to Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson as “Brian Robinson,” a name mix-up that stood out given Robinson’s status as the clear focal point of Atlanta’s offense heading into the season. He also appeared to mispronounce wide receiver Bryan Cissé and, on top of that, told viewers Atlanta was lined up on the Green Bay 49-yard line when the offense was actually still sitting on its own 49, a full field away from where he’d placed them.
All of that happened within roughly the first minute or two of live game action, before Atlanta had even completed a meaningful play from scrimmage. Michaels corrected the Penix-Oregon mistake later in the broadcast, but clips of the moment had already started making the rounds on social media.
Fans were quick to pile on, with some going as far as saying Michaels should retire. One viewer kept it simple:
“Yeah Al needs to call it a career…”
That reaction came under a post by @ChadFisher that had a clip of Michaels’ Oregon slip-up, the caption to which read:
“Al Michaels is already drunk. He said Michael Penix went to Oregon when he actually went to Washington.”
Another fan phrased the same conclusion almost like a mantra, repeating the sentiment for emphasis.
“With respect to Al Michaels. When its time to hang em up….. Its time to hang em up”
A separate commenter kept the reaction even shorter, cutting straight to the point.
“Retirement time.”
Another questioned Michaels’ intent toward broadcasting, writing, “As much as I love Al Michaels, he checked out a long time ago. You ever get the feeling he doesn’t want to even be at these games?”
Michaels, now 81 years old, has called football games professionally since the 1970s and joined Amazon Prime Video as its lead Thursday Night Football voice when the package moved to streaming in 2022. He’s widely regarded as one of the most accomplished play-by-play broadcasters in history, having called Sunday Night Football for NBC for more than a decade before that and famously delivered the “Do you believe in miracles?” call during the 1980 Winter Olympics.
That legacy is exactly why Thursday’s opening-drive mistakes landed as hard as they did with longtime viewers, many of whom have raised similar concerns about his sharpness in the booth throughout his time at Amazon.