Sunday night’s Super Bowl LVI very well could have been the last NFL game Al Michaels calls for NBC.
There have been rumblings over the past few months that Michaels, 77, could leave NBC after the 2021 season and take his talents to either ESPN or Amazon. The legendary play-by-play voice seemingly tipped his hand about taking such a path during a conversation at SoFi Stadium with Eminem, who was on hand to perform during the halftime show of the Rams-Bengals championship clash.
The hip-hop icon brought up a rumor he’d heard about Michaels potentially retiring after Super Bowl LVI. After a moment of hesitation, Michaels responded, “I’ll be somewhere.”
Michaels also might have hinted at a network change in the beginning of Sunday’s broadcast when he summoned a Cris Collinsworth slide-in “for one final time.” While Michaels could have been referring to the last game of the season, it doesn’t feel egregious to interpret the remark as an indication that the duo will be broken up ahead of the 2022 season.
Should Michaels move on from NBC, with whom he’s been employed since 2006, it could cause a ripple effect among the other major networks. Perhaps a potential vacancy will be filled by Tom Brady, who reportedly is drawing television interest in wake of his retirement announcement.
NESN’s big game coverage is presented by Berkshire Bank.
