Al Michaels explains how he handles celebrities at football games
Al Michaels has been one of the most well respected broadcasters for a long time now. He’s seen a lot during his years in the booth, including celebrities going to games. However, the sensation around Taylor Swift attending games is something entirely different.
Still, Michaels has a plan for handling those moments, as he explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“Rarely [does he talk to them], because I don’t get to go see them,” Al Michaels said. “Except in the old days on Monday Night Football, we’d bring people into the booth. We had David Letterman in the booth one time.”
Jimmy Kimmel chimed in at this point to say he was in once but got banned from going back after.
“Jimmy had one of the great lines of all time,” Al Michaels smiled. “This is the year after I leave, thank God. First of all, Jimmy says to Joe Theismann, ‘How’s the leg?’ Joe had the worst injury on Monday Night Football…then Michael Vick had gone to jail because he was in a dog fighting ring. So, he’s in jail. He’s not playing for Atlanta. They have a new quarterback, Joey Harrington, and Jimmy says, ‘Well, Joey Harrington might not be a very good quarterback, but he’s very nice to his pets.'”
According to Al Michaels, that joke from Jimmy Kimmel ultimately ended bringing celebrities into the booth. So, Taylor Swift likely won’t be leaving the luxury boxes to go talk to the broadcast anytime soon. At the same time, Swift isn’t going to stop being featured until she stops going to games.
Ahead of Amazon’s broadcast of a Kansas City Chiefs game that Swift was attending. Michaels said that they’d cover her in moderation. However, by the end of the game, she still appeared on fans’ screens for plenty of time.
Al Michaels responds to criticism of himself and Tony Romo
In the past, there has been some criticism of broadcasters like Al Michaels and Tony Romo. Michaels has heard that, but he also doesn’t put much stock into it.
“We live in a world that didn’t exist 20 or 25 years ago. And you’re right, Richard, everybody gets into the crosshairs at some point. Tony Romo was the flavor of the month when he came in. We’re all gonna get it. We all get it from time to time,” Michaels said.
“Now when you say ‘get it,’ does this mean that in a country of 330 million people, if 10 people rip you or whatever adjective the internet wants to use…I mean, I laugh at that because you and I both know, that if a million people ripped you, 329 million people are not ripping. Sure, everybody wants to be loved, but I think I would not have lasted this long, where I not doing it the right way for the vast majority of people who watch football.”