While the NFL broadcasting world and sports media observers wait to see what Al Michaels’ next movie will be after finishing out his NBC contract with Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI telecast, Amazon is looking to build out the rest of its Thursday Night Football team for next season.
The New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand mentioned that Amazon is eyeing Tony Gonzalez and Marshawn Lynch for its TNF pregame show. The Lynch possibility was reported back in January, but Gonzalez’s name is a new addition to a possible crew.
Gonzalez was part of Fox’s Thursday pregame team for two seasons, rotating with Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long as analysts alongside Michael Strahan. He was also a studio analyst on the Fox NFL Kickoff show and appeared on Fox NFL Sunday, with the presumption that he would eventually take over one of the analyst roles on that program.
Prior to joining Fox, Gonzalez was on CBS’s The NFL Today pregame show for three years, added to the studio crew when the network let Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe go after the 2013 season.
But before the 2019 NFL season, Gonzalez left the TV business to pursue a career in TV and movies. He appeared in 2017’s xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and had a recurring role on CBS drama NCIS for three seasons.
Marchand said Gonzalez being part of Amazon’s TNF coverage was “likely,” which appears to be an indication that the Hall of Fame tight end hasn’t been able to develop a Hollywood career as hoped. (Gonzalez’s IMDB page only lists a role in Nate Boyer’s film MVP, with no upcoming projects.) Or maybe whatever money being offered is too good to turn down and Gonzalez can pursue acting gigs during the offseason.
Meanwhile, Michaels and Amazon are not yet a done deal. And with rumblings of ESPN showing interest in bringing him back to Monday Night Football, Marchand reports that CBS’s Ian Eagle and Fox’s Kevin Burkhardt are under consideration for that play-by-play gig.
And if Troy Aikman passes on the analyst position, Sean Payton and Kurt Warner would be possibilities in addition to deep throws for Tom Brady or Sean McVay.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
