Patriots owner Robert Kraft, acting in his role as the head of the NFL’s broadcasting committee, tried to get FOX to hire Al Michaels after Joe Buck left for ESPN. According to a story in the New York Post’s Sports+ newsletter, Kraft called Rupert Murdoch personally.
“When Kraft did that, I think it was more in terms of [Fox] has the Super Bowl two of the next three years and we want somebody [experienced],” Michaels told Andrew Marchand.
Calling those games would have broken Michaels’s tie with Pat Sumerall for the most Super Bowls called on television.
The broadcasting legend was told that FOX was going to pursue him, but says that information did not come from anyone officially connected to FOX and that the network never reached out.
Al Michaels was also an option for ESPN at one point in the offseason. He is convinced that if Joe Buck couldn’t have broken his contract with FOX, he would be back on Monday Night Football with Troy Aikman.
“I was in their sights,” he told Marchand. “I know that, and you knew that, too. Yes. Could I have made a deal there? I don’t know.”
Of course, Michaels eventually signed with Amazon to be a part of the company’s Thursday Night Football coverage alongside Kirk Herbstreit. The crew is getting rave reviews.
This news explains why news of the streaming giant’s interest in Al Michaels could be public for so long before a deal actually got done.
