Longtime broadcaster Al Michaels made a mistake on “Thursday Night Football” that drew some criticism from NFL fans.
While discussing Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s return to action this season following a torn ACL, Michaels mistakenly said that Penix went to the University of Oregon, when in reality, he went to the rival University of Washington.
Fans immediately jumped to criticize Michaels online, particularly those who attended the Big Ten school in question.
“Al Michaels is already drunk. He said Michael Penix went to Oregon when he actually went to Washington,” one fan tweeted.
“Al Michaels just committed the cardinal sin of football, saying Michael Penix had ‘two great years at Oregon,’” another said.
Michaels eventually issued a correction on the air.
Michaels’ mistake was especially cringeworthy for Washington fans.
Penix led the 2023 Huskies to a perfect 13-0 start en route to a national championship game appearance, where Washington lost to Michigan. Penix would finish second in Heisman Trophy voting that year, the highest ever for a Huskie.
It’s not the first time the legendary Michaels, 81, has been called out during his tenure with Amazon Prime. In recent years, fans have called some of his touchdown calls unenthusiastic, with some pushing for him to retire.
Michaels addressed that criticism three years ago.
“Look, sometimes I’ll take some s–t. People say, ‘He didn’t get excited enough.’ What do you want me to do? Scream, holler, yell the game? That ain’t me,” Michaels told Sports Business Journal in 2023.
“That ain’t [Joe] Buck, that ain’t [Jim] Nantz…You can’t let things like that distress you. I’ve been doing this for so long. And I wouldn’t be here at this point still doing a major package if I was doing it the wrong way.”
