When it comes to legendary broadcaster Al Michaels, you tend to have several camps.
For some listeners, Michaels is an unimpeachable icon who deserves the opportunity to go out on his own terms and is above criticism. For others, the 81-year-old has understandably lost his fastball and often calls NFL games with the enthusiasm of someone sitting at home watching Tracker on a quiet Sunday evening.
The first group can allow Michaels some grace, and even appreciate that he doesn’t call every touchdown with a “Gusgasm” or the flourish someone like Kevin Harlan puts on a big play. The second group would love nothing more than to feel that the announcer has command of the game they’re watching and can meet the moment.
To be fair to him, he’s had plenty of moments this season where he seemed to rediscover his spark. However, the high-profile nature of the Black Friday game didn’t do him many favors.
The first group probably didn’t notice anything off-kilter about Michaels’ call of Prime’s Black Friday NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears. The second group was frustrated by his lack of enthusiasm for significant plays, his somewhat lackadaisical play-calling, and his missed big plays to proceed with anecdotes.
As often happens, some viewers called out Michaels for his lack of excitement on several big plays, including a 30-yard run by Bears RB Kyle Monangai, which seemed to interrupt a much more interesting anecdote.
Kyle. Monangai.
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— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2025
There was also Kevin Byard’s sixth interception of the season, which Michaels called with a lackadaisical flair even before the big moment.
Kevin Byard’s league-leading SIXTH interception!
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— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2025
While Michaels often gets dinged for his lack of enthusiasm, some viewers found a different frustration in the way he whiffed on the Eagles’ tush push fumble that happened at a critical moment in the third quarter. Michaels had been in the midst of an anecdote about the controversial play, and ploughed through it even as the fumble was revealed on the field below.
Bears recover the fumble on the tush push!
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— NFL (@NFL) November 28, 2025
Missing key moments is something he and analyst Kirk Herbstreit have been dinged for before.
On a deep touchdown pass from Jalen Hurts to AJ Brown to bring the Eagles within one, it’s almost as if you can feel Michaels pulling back from the excitement of the moment to subdue his touchdown call.
What a GRAB from @1kalwaysopen_#ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/KeOrng0sLX
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 28, 2025
Now, it would be unfair not to include several times during the game when Michaels did get excited to meet the moment, including a Jalyx Hunt interception and a Caleb Johnson touchdown pass to Cole Kmet that essentially iced the victory for the Bears.
.@CALEBcsw hits @ColeKmet for the 28 yard tuddy 🙌
📺: @NFLonPrime | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/sFVPlCLKVX
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 28, 2025
Also, credit is due to any announcer who can utter “cacophony of crap” during an NFL game.
Al Michaels on the AJ Brown drama – “it’s a cacophony of crap out there is what it amounts to.”#FlyEaglesFly #Eagles #AJBrown #almichaels #NFLOnPrime #BearsVsEagles pic.twitter.com/qMGBJKhxy1
— AC (@ACinPhilly) November 28, 2025
Michaels has long argued that he simply picks his moments, and perhaps that’s what he was doing Friday.
Ultimately, the debate is likely to follow Michaels for however long he continues to call games. He’s scoffed at the criticism, and his defenders have remained steadfast. It sounds as though he’s year-to-year with Prime, and he’s voiced a desire to keep going next season. Amazon seems unlikely to move on from him just yet, but now that they’ve got a few announcers in the fold on the NBA side, including Harlan, one wonders how long they’ll stick with him, legend or not.
