When you hear Al Michaels call his 11th Super Bowl on NBC on Sunday, take a moment to appreciate a legend doing his job supremely well, because it might be the final time the best play-by-play man in NFL history calls a Super Bowl, or perhaps any NFL game on traditional network television.
NBC is expected to replace Michaels with Mike Tirico on Sunday Night Football next season; it has been widely reported that when Tirico moved from ESPN to NBC in 2016, he had a clause in his contract that he would take over play-by-play for the Sunday package in 2022, alongside Cris Collinsworth, who will return next season.
The big problem with that succession play: Michaels, at 77, isn’t ready to retire. And he’s still at the top of his game.
