NBC's decision to leave Al Michaels out of its upcoming NFL playoff broadcasting plans— without informing Michaels beforehand — has drawn the ire of many, including from another legendary broadcaster.
During an appearance on this week's "Marchand and Ourand" podcast, longtime Fox and current ESPN broadcaster Joe Buck gave his take on NBC's shocking decision regarding Michaels.
"How was [Michaels] told that he was not doing this playoff game?" Buck rhetorically asked podcast co-host Andrew Marchand. "If you tell me he's known forever and this is the deal that he signed, that's one thing. But to find out publicly, and you're Al Michaels?"
Buck continued: "How was he alerted to this? Was this in his deal? Did he know beforehand? Did he find out through social media or through you [Marchand]? And if the answer is he found out through you or through social media, then I think that sucks."
During his rant, Buck also made clear that his sentiment isn't directed toward Noah Eagle, whom NBC decided to replace Michaels with. "And I'm happy for Noah Eagle," Buck said. "This has nothing to do with Noah Eagle. Eagle I think is phenomenal. Noah's great and an up-and-coming star in this business. Take them out of it."
Despite Michaels clearly seeming blindsided by NBC's decision, perhaps he should have seen this coming. After all, Michaels left his "Sunday Night Football" post with NBC last year in order to join Prime Video's "Thursday Night Football" booth with Kirk Herbstreit.
Michaels — who is tied for the most Super Bowls called on television, with 11 — was given an emeritus role with NBC upon leaving them, and he was still supposed to call a playoff game for the network (as he did last year for the Jaguars vs. Chargers Wild Card round contest). Eventually, though, NBC had to move on from the 79-year-old Michaels for younger, more up-and-coming talent.
Then again, nobody is criticizing NBC for electing to move on from Michaels. They're criticizing NBC for not telling Michaels beforehand and forcing him to learn about their decision via social media speculation.
Considering all that Michaels has done for NBC's football coverage over the years, both he and Joe Buck are justified in lamenting how this forced passing of the torch has been handled.
