Al Michaels facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Al Michaels
Michaels at FedExField in September 2017
Born	Alan Richard Michaels (1944-11-12) November 12, 1944 (age 80) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Arizona State University
Occupation	Sports commentator
Years active	1964–present
Spouse(s)	Linda Anne Stamaton ​ (m. 1966)​
Children	2
Sports commentary career
Genre(s)	Play-by-play
Sports	Football baseball basketball ice hockey horse racing boxing

Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is a famous American television play-by-play sportscaster. This means he describes the action of a game as it happens. He currently works for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video and also has a special role with NBC Sports.

Al Michaels has been a voice in sports TV since 1971. He spent almost 30 years (1976–2006) with ABC Sports before moving to NBC. He is best known for calling many National Football League (NFL) games, including ABC Monday Night Football from 1986 to 2005 and NBC Sunday Night Football from 2006 to 2021. He also made famous calls in other sports, like the "Miracle on Ice" at the 1980 Winter Olympics and the earthquake-stopped Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.

Early Life and School Days

Al Michaels was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1944. He grew up loving the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. In 1958, his family moved to Los Angeles, the same year the Dodgers also moved there.

He graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School in 1962. Then, he went to Arizona State University. There, he studied radio and television and also journalism. He wrote for the school newspaper, The State Press, and called games for the Sun Devils football, basketball, and baseball teams on the campus radio station. He was also part of the Sigma Nu fraternity.

How Did Al Michaels Start His Career?

Al Michaels's first job in television was helping to choose people for a TV show called The Dating Game. His first job as a sportscaster was in 1967. He was hired to help with public relations for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. He also worked as a color commentator on the team's radio broadcasts, working with experienced announcer Chick Hearn. However, he only worked on four games because Chick Hearn didn't like working with someone so young.

He started broadcasting again in 1968 after moving to Honolulu. There, he was a sports anchor for KHVH-TV (now KITV). He also called games for the Hawaii Islanders baseball team and the University of Hawaii's football and basketball teams. In 1969, he was named Hawaii's "Sportscaster of the Year." In 1970, Michaels even appeared as a lawyer in an episode of the TV show Hawaii Five-O.

In 1971, Michaels moved to Cincinnati. He became the radio play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. In 1972, when the Reds made it to the World Series, he helped cover the series for NBC Sports. He also called the hockey games at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.

In 1974, he left the Reds to work for the San Francisco Giants baseball team. He also covered basketball for UCLA. He then announced regional NFL games for CBS Sports in 1975. In 1976, he joined ABC Sports part-time to call some of their Monday Night Baseball games. That year, he called two no-hitters (when a pitcher doesn't allow any hits).

Al Michaels at ABC Sports (1977–2006)

In 1977, Al Michaels started working full-time for ABC Sports. In 1983, he became ABC's main baseball announcer. Before that, he and another announcer, Keith Jackson, would share the play-by-play duties for ABC's World Series coverage.

For the next 30 years, Michaels covered many different sports for ABC. These included Major League Baseball, college football, college basketball, the Indianapolis 500 car race, ice hockey, track and field, horse racing (like the Kentucky Derby), golf, boxing, figure skating, and road cycling. He also covered many events at the Olympic Games.

Michaels also hosted the Stanley Cup Finals (ice hockey championship) from 2000 to 2002. He also hosted the yearly Tiger Woods golf specials that aired on Monday nights.

The "Miracle on Ice" Moment

One of Al Michaels's most famous broadcasts was the 1980 Winter Olympics ice hockey game between the United States and the Soviet Union.

In 1980, a young, unheralded group of college hockey players from the United States played against the strong professional team from the Soviet Union. The game was played on February 22 in Lake Placid, New York. The U.S. team won 4–3 in an exciting game. As time ran out, Michaels made his famous call: "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" This moment became known as the The Miracle on Ice.

Many people think the game was shown live, but it wasn't. ABC decided to show it later in prime time. Even though it was on tape, it was one of the most-watched TV programs of that year and is still the most-watched ice hockey game in American TV history.

Michaels and his broadcasting partner, Ken Dryden, even re-recorded their commentary for the 2004 movie Miracle. However, the last few seconds of Michaels's original "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" call were used in the movie because the director felt he couldn't recreate that exact emotion.

Michaels later said that the "Miracle on Ice" was the highlight of his career. He was chosen for this game because he had called one hockey game eight years earlier at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Japan. Other ABC announcers had never called a hockey game before.

Two days after the "Miracle on Ice," Michaels also called the gold medal game, where the U.S. defeated Finland. He ended that game by saying, "This impossible dream comes true!"

Al Michaels continued to be ABC's main hockey announcer for the next two Winter Olympics in 1984 and 1988.

Al Michaels Moves to NBC

Why Did Al Michaels Leave ABC?

In 2005, it was announced that Monday Night Football would move from ABC to ESPN starting in 2006. His partner, John Madden, decided to join NBC Sports, which had gotten the rights to Sunday Night Football. Even though many thought Michaels would also go to NBC, he initially said he would stay with ESPN's Monday Night Football.

However, before Super Bowl XL in 2006, there was a lot of talk that Michaels was trying to leave ESPN to join Madden at NBC. It became clear that NBC's Sunday Night Football would be the top prime-time NFL game, while ESPN's Monday Night Football would show less important games.

On February 8, 2006, ESPN announced that Mike Tirico would be the new Monday Night Football announcer. The next day, NBC confirmed that Al Michaels would join John Madden to broadcast NFL games on Sunday nights. This ended Michaels's 20-year run on Monday Night Football and almost 30 years with ABC.

The "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" Trade

To let Michaels out of his contract with ABC and ESPN, NBCUniversal made a deal with Disney (who owns ABC and ESPN). NBCUniversal gave ESPN rights to cover the Ryder Cup golf tournament and more Olympic highlights. They also gave Disney the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, an old cartoon character created by Walt Disney that Universal Pictures (now NBCUniversal) used to own.

Michaels found this "trade" amusing. He joked that "Oswald is definitely worth more than a fourth-round draft choice. I'm going to be a trivia answer someday."

Al Michaels at NBC Sports (2006–Present)

Sunday Night Football

Michaels and Madden started their new NBC roles on August 6, 2006, with a preseason NFL game. They called Sunday Night Football together until April 2009. After Madden retired, Cris Collinsworth joined Michaels as the new analyst for Sunday Night Football.

Al Michaels has called several Super Bowl games for NBC, including Super Bowl XLIII (2009), Super Bowl XLVI (2012), Super Bowl XLIX (2015), Super Bowl LII (2018), and Super Bowl LVI (2022). He is tied with Pat Summerall for calling the most Super Bowls as a play-by-play announcer.

Michaels often ate his dinner during Sunday Night Football broadcasts, taking bites during commercial breaks.

In May 2022, NBC announced that even though Michaels was no longer the main Sunday Night Football announcer, he would still call at least one NFL playoff game for NBC in a special "emeritus" role.

Olympic Host for NBC

In March 2009, it was announced that Michaels would host NBC's daytime coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. This was his first time working on an Olympic broadcast since 1988. He also co-hosted the Closing Ceremony with Bob Costas.

Michaels also co-hosted the daytime coverage for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the Closing Ceremony. For the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, he hosted on NBCSN during weekdays and on NBC during weekends. He returned to host daytime coverage for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Michaels once shared that ABC was close to getting the rights to broadcast the 1996 Summer Olympics from Atlanta. If they had, he would have been the prime-time anchor. However, NBC bought the rights instead.

Other Work: MLB Network and Thursday Night Football

MLB Network (2011)

On July 8, 2011, Michaels teamed up with fellow announcer Bob Costas to call a baseball game between the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants on MLB Network. This was Michaels's first time calling a baseball game as a main announcer since the 1995 World Series.

Thursday Night Football (2016, 2022–Present)

Michaels first called Thursday Night Football in 2016 as part of a deal where NBC produced some Thursday night games. The next year, Mike Tirico took over those games for NBC.

On March 23, 2022, the NFL and Amazon announced that Al Michaels would become the full-time play-by-play announcer for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.

Sometimes, viewers have said that Michaels doesn't sound very excited during these games. When asked about it, Michaels hinted that some of the games haven't been the most exciting. He said, "I mean, you just can't oversell something. Do you want me to sell you a 20-year-old Mazda? That's what you're asking me to do. I can't sell you a used car."

Awards and Honors

Al Michaels has received many awards and honors throughout his career:

Sportscasting Awards

• Five-time Sports Emmy Award winner – Outstanding Sports Personality, Play-by-Play
• Three-time NSMA National Sportscaster of the Year
• Sportscaster of the Year – American Sportscasters Association (ASA)
• Sportscaster of the Year – Washington Journalism Review
• ASA Top 50 Sportscasters of All Time.
• Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism (2002).
• Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters "Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award" June 16, 2017
• IIHF Media Award, 2024

Halls of Fame

• Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• NSMA Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1998)
• Television Academy Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2013)
• 2013 Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award – Pro Football Hall of Fame
• 2021 Ford C. Frick Award winner – Baseball Hall of Fame

Local Recognition

• The football stadium at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles (Michaels's old school) is named Al Michaels Field.

Personal Life

Al Michaels is the oldest child of Jay and Lila Michaels. He has a younger brother, David Michaels, and a younger sister, Susan.

Al Michaels lives in Los Angeles. He married his wife Linda on August 27, 1966, when he was 21 years old. Al and Linda have two children, Jennifer and Steven. Steven Michaels is the president and CEO of a film company called Asylum Entertainment in Los Angeles. Al Michaels is also a season ticket holder for the Los Angeles Kings hockey team.

His younger brother, David, is a television producer. David Michaels has produced shows like NBC's Olympic Games coverage and the Beyond the Glory series for Fox Sports Net.

In 2014, Michaels wrote his autobiography called You Can't Make This Up: Memories and the Perfect Marriage of Sports and Television. This book became a New York Times Best Seller.

Notable Broadcasts

Michaels was the play-by-play announcer for all these events unless noted otherwise.

Career Timeline

• 1968–1970: Hawaii Islanders Play-by-play
• 1971–1973: Cincinnati Reds Radio Play-by-play
• 1971–1974: NFL on NBC Play-by-play
• 1972 and 1980–1988: Winter Olympics Hockey Play-by-play (NBC 1972, ABC 1980–1988)
• 1973–1975: UCLA Basketball TV Play-by-play
• 1974–1976: San Francisco Giants TV & Radio Play-by-play
• 1975: NFL on CBS Play-by-play
• 1976–1989, 1994–1995: Major League Baseball on ABC Play-by-play (Lead Play-by-play from 1983 to 1989 and 1994 to 1995)
• 1977–1985: College Football on ABC Play-by-play
• 1986–2000: Kentucky Derby Host (ABC)
• 1986–2000: Preakness Stakes Host (ABC)
• 1986–2000: Belmont Stakes Host (ABC)
• 1986–2005: ABC Monday Night Football Play-by-play
• 1987–1989: College Basketball on ABC Play-by-play
• 1989–1992: Sugar Bowl Play-by-play (ABC)
• 2000–2002: NHL on ABC Stanley Cup Finals host
• 2003–2005: NBA on ABC Play-by-play
• 2006–2021: NBC Sunday Night Football Play-by-play
• 2015: PBC on NBC Host
• 2016: Thursday Night Football on NBC/NFL Network Play-by-play
• 2022–present: Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video Play-by-play
• 2022–present: NBC Sports Emeritus role

Broadcast Partners

Al Michaels has worked with many different sports commentators and analysts. Here are some of them: