Al Michaels will turn 82 this year on November 12. But there was a time the veteran broadcaster thought he wouldn’t even be around long enough to achieve everything he’d dreamed about as a young man.
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“I’m in high school thinking about I want to do the World Series,” Michaels said on South Beach Sessions on July 7. “I got to do it before I’m 30 because at 30, you know, you’re an old man. At 40, you die, so think about that.
“Because 40 just seemed like ancient at that point. I think I was driven early on by wanting to do all of the stuff that I dreamed about, which has come true amazingly enough.”
Imago
Nov. 3, 2013 – Houston, Texas, United States of America – NOV 03 2013: NBC broadcaster Al Michaels on the set of NBC s Football Night In America pregame show prior to the NFL American Football Herren USA football game between the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts from Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX. NFL American Football Herren USA 2013: Colts vs Texans NOV 03 – ZUMAc04
Michaels got his first sportscasting job in 1967, when he was approximately 23 years old. In 1976, he joined ABC Sports as a part-timer in the backup crew of Monday Night Baseball games. In 1968, he moved to a full-time role, and since then, there has been no turning back for Michaels.
He has spent more than four decades covering the biggest stages in sports, including over 400 primetime NFL broadcasts. Today, twice as old as he’d thought he’d be, he is the only play-by-play voice to have covered championships of the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL.
The sportscaster’s career is also marked with plenty of notable achievements. Al Michaels has won five Sports Emmy awards, three NSMA National Sportscaster of the Year titles, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and other honors. He is also inducted into both the Baseball and Pro Football Hall of Fame, as winner of the Ford C. Frick Award and Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award, respectively.
All because Michaels persevered after once fearing death at an early age.
Michaels’ contract with Amazon Prime Video, which broadcasts Thursday Night Football, was set to expire after the 2025 season. But in January this year, Amazon confirmed that he will be back in the booth for this season as a play-by-play broadcaster. He has been the voice of the weekly primetime broadcast since Amazon took over the program in 2022.
“First of all, I feel great,” Michaels said after the confirmation. “Everyone at Amazon has been fantastic. And I love working with this group. I’ve been looking at this year one year at a time. And as long as I feel I’m at the top of my game, I’d like to continue.”