In the eyes of NFL fans, Al Michaels jinxed the leg of one of the league’s steadiest kickers during Thursday Night Football’s presentation of the Vikings-Chargers game on Prime Video. The premature prediction followed weeks of NFL fans urging the veteran sports figure to be fired after several blunders during live TV.
The Los Angeles Chargers pieced together a drive that saw Justin Herbert orchestrating a seven-play, 61-yard march down the field. He fired a 40-yard laser to Oronde Gadsden, and two plays later, he dropped a 12-yard ball to Keenan Allen, which was enough to pull the Chargers within striking distance.
Cameron Dicker jogged onto the field as one of the league’s most accurate kickers with a perfect 15-15 on attempts this season, including a 55-yarder during a 27-10 loss to the Washington Commanders. Michaels seemed almost sure that Dicker would make the attempt.
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“Forty-nine-yard attempt,” he began to say. “For years, the Chargers were a mess in terms of trying to find a place kicker until they came upon this guy. And he’s been fabulous. Cameron Dicker. Fourth year, played his college ball at Texas, tries to connect from forty-nine out…”
The ball left the place kicker’s hands and was sent through the air, eventually drifting wide left. “And of course,” Michaels added. “We kabooshed (kickers) before. There goes the perfect season.”
NFL fans were quick to label the long-time sports commentator a jinx online. One fan wrote, “I think Al Michaels gets a sick thrill after Jinxing kickers,” as another added, “All-time announcer jinks by Al Michaels… no shame.”
Another wrote, “Al Michaels is right on queue with the kicker jinx. Cameron Dicker never had a chance.” A third fan reacted to the play and said, “Al Michaels has spent this entire game talking about how Cameron Dicker can’t miss a kick. Of course, he was going to miss that.”
The shock miss fortunately occurred with the Vikings holding a comfortable lead at halftime. Under Carson Wentz, the offense failed to capitalize on the play, leading to a punt on the next drive.
They followed up the turnover on downs with a missed field goal of their own, when Will Reichard’s 53-yard attempt went wide as time expired before halftime. Minnesota would score its first touchdown in the game late in the third quarter after Wentz completed a short 4-yard pass to Jordan Addison.
Since entering the league, Dicker has demonstrated elite accuracy. In 45 career games, he’s converted 106 of 112 field-goal attempts, achieving a 94.6 percent success rate.
His longest kick was a 59-yarder last season, although it came in a 170-15 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Dicker has more than 420 career points. and has been flawless from forty yards and in. Even beyond fifty, he’s hit seventeen of twenty-two career kicks.
The Chargers’ kickers have missed only six field goals over four seasons and have successfully converted 106 out of 109 extra-point attempts. In a sport where kickers often struggle under the spotlight, he typically remains calm under pressure… just not this time after Michael’s stamp of approval.
