LOOK: Cris Collinsworth nails perfect tribute to Al Michaels
Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth, who have been calling NBC’s Sunday Night Football together since 2009, won’t be in the booth together next season. It was reported Monday that Michaels is moving on to accept a deal with Amazon as the play-by-play commentator for Thursday Night Football alongside Kirk Herbstreit.
Michaels reportedly signed a three-year deal with the media giant, though the contract amount has yet to be released. In light of the news, Collinsworth took to Twitter to offer a touching tribute to his former colleague and friend.
The 77-year-old Michaels will still work a game or two for NBC next season, according to a report from the New York Post. Herbstreit, who still has two years left on his contract with ESPN, will also continue to cover college football for the worldwide leader in sports until at least 2023. His contract with company permits him to cover the NFL for another network, and he could still have the option to re-sign with ESPN for college football even after the current deal expires.
NBC’s Mike Tirico will move up to replace Al Michaels alongside Cris Collinsworth next season on SNF. Tirico has spent the past few seasons as Michaels’ backup at NBC, and the company apparently liked what they saw enough to give him the full-time job.
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Michaels isn’t the only big name commentator to make a move lately, as FOX lost both Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to ESPN. The pair will call Monday Night Football on the network, which signed Buck to a deal worth $75 million over five years. That number is rumored to be similar to what Amazon offered Michaels.
Amazon has been trying to make a push into live sports over the past year, and with these moves it has successfully done so. In addition to Michaels and Herbstreit, Amazon brought in SNF producer Fred Gaudelli, who has produced seven Super Bowls, for the same role on its Thursday night telecast.