Al Michaels commits ‘cardinal sin’ on Thursday Night Football broadcast leaving viewers shocked
Veteran broadcaster Al Michaels has come under fire from football fans after committing what viewers branded a ‘cardinal sin’ during Thursday Night Football.
Calling the Atlanta Falcons’ clash against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Amazon Prime Video, the 81-year-old endured a nightmare start to the action.
During the opening drive, Michaels attempted to recap the college journey of Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr – only to get his facts completely wrong.
In an attempt to set the scene, Michaels told viewers that Penix Jr had started his career at Indiana before having ‘two great years at Oregon.’
College football fans quickly seized on the glaring error, pointing out that Penix starred for the Washington Huskies – who are fierce rivals of the Oregon Ducks.
While Michaels later corrected himself and tried to move past the slip-up, the damage across social media was already done.
Fans ripped into veteran broadcaster Al Michaels after his embarrassing mistake on Thursday
He erroneously claimed that Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr had ‘two great years at Oregon’
Taking to X, one disgruntled fan wrote: ‘Al Michaels just committed the cardinal sin of football, saying Michael Penix had ‘two greats years at Oregon.’ He corrected himself after my blood pressure had already spike.’
‘Al Michaels is already drunk. He said Michael Penix went to Oregon when he actually went to Washington,’ another user added on the social media platform.
Another wrote: ‘Al Michaels just said Penix played at Oregon after Indiana. Flying out of the gate.’
‘Al Michaels really just said ‘started his career at Indiana, then two great years at Oregon’ bruh Someone got in his ear to correct him right away, but confusing Washington for their rival won’t make fans happy,’ said one user.
The embarrassing moment came just one week after Michaels took a brutal on-air shot at Donald Trump over failed $1 billion attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills.
During last week’s Thursday Night Football clash, Michaels said: ‘There were basically three bidders. Pegula, who won it at [$1.4 billion]; a Toronto group, [rock star Jon] Bon Jovi was in it…
‘And the other bidder, Donald J. Trump, who said publicly, “I’m gonna write a cashier’s check for a billion dollars.” The league said, “nah, we’re good. We’ll take Pegula.”‘
Pegula’s 2014 purchase of the team represented Trump’s fourth failed run at buying an NFL franchise, not including his doomed foray into the USFL.
It marked the second time in two weeks that Michaels has faced backlash from NFL fans
Last Thursday, Michaels came under fire for mocking Trump’s attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills
Trump supporters quickly took offense at Michaels’ comment.
‘People watch football to escape all the bulls*** that goes on in the world,’ one angry critic wrote on X. ‘Nobody wants to hear that political nonsense.’
‘lol am I supposed to care more about a guy that speaks on sports for a living or the sitting president?’ another asked. ‘F*** Al.’
One critic suggested Michaels ‘retire because he’s becoming more senile every week.’
‘Remember,’ they added, ‘go woke go broke.’
