Al Michaels has called primetime NFL games for 40 years with a clear rule for his eventual exit: “I don’t want to be the story. I want to be the narrator or the connection or the conduit. But not the story, no.” Unfortunately, week three of the 2026 season proved otherwise. During Thursday Night Football’s Packers vs. Falcons matchup, a quick barrage of on-air slip-ups made the 81-year-old broadcaster the biggest talking point of the night, reigniting loud demands for his retirement.

Calling the Falcons’ first drive on Prime Video, Michaels was narrating quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s return to the field, his first game action since tearing his ACL in Week 11 last season, when he told viewers Penix had “two great years at Oregon.” In reality, Penix spent his final two college seasons at the University of Washington, a program locked in a bitter rivalry with Oregon, making the mix-up especially jarring for anyone watching closely.

Penix capped his senior year by leading the Huskies to an impressive 14-1 record, highlighted by a victory over the Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship Game, before getting picked by the Falcons as the 8th overall pick.

Michaels wasn’t done. Moments later, on that same opening drive, he referred to Falcons star running back Bijan Robinson as “Brian Robinson,” a name mix-up that stood out given Robinson’s status as the clear focal point of Atlanta’s offense heading into the season. He also appeared to mispronounce wide receiver Bryan Cissé and, on top of that, told viewers Atlanta was lined up on the Green Bay 49-yard line when the offense was actually still sitting on its own 49, a full field away from where he’d placed them.

All of that happened within roughly the first minute or two of live game action, before Atlanta had even completed a meaningful play from scrimmage.

While Michaels was quick to issue an on-air apology, the damage was already done. Fans were further incensed later in the broadcast when the veteran play-by-play caller overtly questioned Atlanta’s decision to attempt a two-point conversion while holding a 19-point fourth-quarter lead, a standard tactic to turn a three-possession game into a full three-touchdown buffer.

For viewers, the sequence tapped into a familiar frustration. Ever since Michaels assumed lead duties for Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football in 2022, his broadcasts have faced consistent scrutiny over noticeable dips in enthusiasm and sharpness.

What made Thursday’s missteps particularly glaring was the backdrop on the field. Michaels struggled to track players who were delivering stellar performances. Michael Penix Jr., making his long-awaited return from an ACL injury, rebounded from a sluggish 2-for-7 start with an interception to finish the night with 256 passing yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, Bijan Robinson proved why he is the undisputed centerpiece of Atlanta’s attack. Single-handedly carrying an offense that entered the night with a league-worst minus-7 turnover margin, Robinson ripped off a dynamic 55-yard run, the third-longest of his career, setting up his own 3-yard score to cap a dominant 90-yard first quarter.

Yet, as Robinson carried the offense, Michaels spent the evening attempting to carry his broadcast past a shaky start.

Fans react as calls for retirement grow

Fans were quick to pile on, with some going as far as saying Michaels should retire. One viewer kept it simple:

“Yeah Al needs to call it a career…”

That reaction came under a post by @ChadFisher that had a clip of Michaels’ Oregon slip-up, the caption to which read:

“Al Michaels is already drunk. He said Michael Penix went to Oregon when he actually went to Washington.”

Another fan phrased the same conclusion almost like a mantra, repeating the sentiment for emphasis.

“With respect to Al Michaels. When its time to hang em up….. Its time to hang em up”

A separate commenter kept the reaction even shorter, cutting straight to the point.

“Retirement time.”

Another questioned Michaels’ intent toward broadcasting, writing, “As much as I love Al Michaels, he checked out a long time ago. You ever get the feeling he doesn’t want to even be at these games?”

Michaels, now 81 years old, has called football games professionally since the 1970s and joined Amazon Prime Video as its lead Thursday Night Football voice when the package moved to streaming in 2022. He’s widely regarded as one of the most accomplished play-by-play broadcasters in history, having called Sunday Night Football for NBC for more than a decade before that and famously delivered the “Do you believe in miracles?” call during the 1980 Winter Olympics.

That legacy is exactly why Thursday’s opening-drive mistakes landed as hard as they did with longtime viewers, many of whom have raised similar concerns about his sharpness in the booth throughout his time at Amazon.

However, Michaels has previously made it clear that he is having a lot of fun and doesn’t really want to step down. When asked how much longer he plans to remain in the booth, Michaels offered a simple chuckle before brushing off the noise.

“I’m living in the moment. They’ve been asking me this for 10, 12, 15 years, whatever it’s been,” Michaels said. “And I say ‘You know what? I’m living in the moment.’”

To illustrate his mindset, Michaels recalled a lesson from legendary Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy during a production meeting years ago, a story he even shared on the air that night.

“If you think about retiring,” Levy told him, “you’re already retired.”

It is a philosophy that has stayed with the broadcasting icon ever since, shaping his decision to keep calling games on his own terms regardless of the growing outside noise.