When NBC Sports signed Mike Tirico last April it was widely assumed and reported he would become the play-by-play voice of the Peacock’s new five-game Thursday night NFL package.
That will not happen.
Al (Exigente) Michaels, the voice of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” will also work the Thursday night games with his partner Cris Collinsworth. Why? The National Football League wants it that way — that’s why.
“They (Michaels and Collinsworth) are (NBC’s) number one team. So are (CBS’ Jim) Nantz and (Phil) Simms. We like the idea of having the same booth announcers from Sunday night and Sunday afternoon to carry over to Thursday,” Brian McCarthy, the NFL’s VP/Communications, said. “We’re hoping for that same magic ‘Sunday Night Football’ has with Al and Cris to carry over to Thursday night.”
When NBC won rights to the Thursday night package in February, paying $250 million for the five games, it agreed (like incumbent CBS did when it inked its original “TNF” deal in 2014) to use its No. 1 NFL team on the telecasts.
But industry sources said after NBC suits signed Tirico, or when they first alerted the NFL they were going to bring Tirico, the marquee ESPN personality and play-by-play voice of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” to NBC Sports, they figured they had an extremely good shot at using him on “TNF.” This would enable Michaels, 71, to concentrate solely on preparation for “SNF” and not have such a quick turnaround.
In March, NBC Sports boss Mark Lazarus, speaking to reporters at the NFL owners meeting, set the stage for a change, saying both Michaels and Collinsworth were not exactly thrilled about adding more games to their schedules. “It’s a full-time job to do one game a week. It’s not just adding a three-hour broadcast. It’s a substantial amount of work,” Lazarus said at the time. “Nobody raised their hand and said ‘I really want to do double the workload.'”
With that in mind, NBC Sports execs asked their NFL partners if they could use Tirico instead of Michaels on “TNF.” NBC made the case it was bringing in Tirico, a high caliber, high quality yakker, who was the voice of an NFL primetime package for 10 seasons. And it wasn’t like the NFL’s broadcast division wasn’t familiar with Tirico’s work.
Still, the NFL wasn’t impressed, sources said, and nixed the Tirico option.
NBC Sports would not confirm or deny whether it ever asked NFL execs about making Tirico the Peacock’s “TNF” voice. “We made an agreement (with the NFL) to use our team of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth on ‘Thursday Night Football,'” was all an NBC Sports spokesman would say.
With the addition of “TNF,” NBC, logistically, is in a different spot than CBS, which will also air five “TNF” tilts. When CBS first acquired the “TNF” package in 2014, it began giving Simms and Nantz a reduced Sunday afternoon schedule to keep them fresh. NBC now does not have that option. “SNF” is the highest rated show in prime time and Michaels and Collinsworth are going to call every game.
As for Tirico, well, he will stay busy at NBC, albeit, without an NFL package to work — unless someone, someone with the power to leap tall buildings, can convince the NFL to change its mind.
EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
Could it be the faculty at Bristol Clown Community College is trying desperately to drown out the sounds of Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic?
The question is legit considering ESPN is bringing in a total of 17 football related voices, including Steve Smith Sr., during the season to work with M&M (were the football droids hired to prop the boys up?) on a daily basis. Let’s hope Golic and Greenberg aren’t getting paid by the word during these daily sessions, featuring too many names to waste space in this column.
And does the addition of all these football blabbermouths mean someone thinks Golic and Greenberg are not capable of “in-depth” football analysis? Or does the Faculty just enjoy hearing other voices and providing gainful employment to former players?
YES MOMENTS
The final stamp of approval the Yankees could bestow on Alex Rodriguez would be a Yankeeography in his honor, only on YES.
That’s not likely to happen. But not for the reasons you might think. A few years ago, YES shifted the focus of its Yankeeography series from individual players to singular moments and re-titled the show “Yankeeography: Moments of Glory.”
YES has done “MOG” on Andy Pettitte’s Game 5 start vs the Braves in ’96, Scott Brosius’ 1998 World Series MVP performance and others.
So, it’s more likely viewers will get an A-Rod’s singular moment of glory than a full-blown Yankeeography.
Just wondering what A-Rod “MOG” YES would present?
MOONLIGHTING
Brandon Marshall isn’t the only Jet looking for a future behind a microphone.
Well embedded football moles say new Jets running back Matt Forte and, or, his “people” have reached out to local outlets to inquire about in-season gigs.
Meanwhile, Eric Decker has agreed to do a weekly spot with ESPN-98.7’s Richard W. DiPietro Jr. and Alan Hahn.
Eli Manning will return to the FAN balcony for his weekly audience with Mike (Sports Pope) Francesa. And every Thursday at 4 p.m. His Holiness will be telling Ben McAdoo what the coach did wrong and how he should run the Giants.
If this isn’t enough, the FANdroids are still looking to add other football voices to the daily mix.
TRAVEL MUCH?
If he was able to quickly get to the front of the line of tourists at that gas station waiting to acquire a souvenir from the Ryan Lochte Tribute Stall, Kenny Albert was scheduled to fly out of Rio, where he called track & field on NBCSN, and land in the states in time to make it to Coney Island Sunday.
Albert will call a live PBC boxing card (5 p.m.) from Coney including a welterweight rumble between Errol (The Truth) Spence Jr and Leonard (The Lion) Bundu.
That other Albert — Marv — will serve as a human lead-in calling the men’s basketball gold medal game on NBC with the man who invented the sport, Doug Collins.
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DUDE OF THE WEEK: NIKKI HAMBLIN & ABBEY D’AGOSTINO
The Rio Olympics is not all about Ryan Lochte & Co. It just seems that way. There actually were moments worthy of writing home about.Like the display of sportsmanship between D’Agostino, the American, and Hamblin, the New Zealander, a rare occurrence amidst the jingoistic jive fest. After Hamblin fell during the second heat in the women’s 5,000 meter Tuesday, D’Agostino tripped over her and fell too. Yet D’Agostino encouraged her to get up. They both gutted it out, finishing last and next to last. No matter. Their performance, and the example they set, was golden.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
This organization must be in a hurry. Why else would Jerry Jones be nominated for enshrinement in 2017 in the “Contributor” category? While the Cowboys boss has a resume, which includes the good, bad and controversial, he (unless he’s keeping a secret) is not about to step down anytime soon. The paint (hopefully not supplied by the PFHOF) has yet to dry on his career. There are still chapters to be written in the Book of Jones, which could impact whether he should enter Canton. Already, there is debate. Let Jones’ career play out. No need to rush to judgement.
DOUBLE TALK
What Keith Hernandez said: “(Jay Bruce is) Trying to get out of the Forest of Mirkwood. Nothing but spiders and trolls there.”
What Keith Hernandez meant to say: “I hope Jay isn’t the second coming of Jayson Bay.”
