Al Michaels will be back in a familiar spot on Sept. 17, when he calls the Buffalo Bills' home opener against the Detroit Lions — his 10th stadium opener and another reminder that the NFL still trusts him with one of its showcase nights.
At 81, Michaels has no interest in turning the moment into a farewell circuit. He has been clear that he does not want a retirement tour, saying, “Don’t need one,” and, “Don’t want one.” That keeps the focus where he wants it: on the game, not the ceremony.
A broadcaster the league keeps turning to
The NFL has often assigned major stadium openers to Michaels' broadcast teams because of the prominence of the games, and this one fits that pattern. The Bills-Lions matchup will come in the fifth season of Amazon's Thursday Night Football package, with Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit again on the call.
Michaels has worked stadium openers across three networks or services — ABC, NBC and Amazon — and the list has become a quiet marker of how long he has remained part of the sport's biggest events. His first opener came on Sept. 10, 2001, when the Denver Broncos hosted the Giants.
That history helps explain why he sounded so comfortable talking about the latest one. “Of all of the years on Sunday and Monday, we had so many of the premiere games,” he said. “So the league wanted us to open a stadium under the bright lights either Monday night or Sunday night – and that’s the case here too. So it’s kind of a source of pride here that the league thought they’d open up the new one in football on ‘Thursday Night Football.’ I’m excited about it.”
Highmark Stadium becomes the next stage
The day before the game, Michaels and Herbstreit received a tour of the new Highmark Stadium. The venue has already drawn preseason criticism for seats with obstructed views, but Michaels was not expecting any trouble on the broadcast side. “I’m not anticipating issues,” he said.
That is typically how Michaels frames these assignments: as another major stage rather than a personal celebration. Even now, he says he still enjoys the routine. “I still get a charge out of it,” he said. “And this is going to be a lot of fun on Thursday night for me.”
For Amazon, the assignment again shows the broadcast has become part of the league’s premium calendar. For Michaels, it is simply the next big game — and, at 81, another significant first for a broadcaster who has spent decades opening the sport’s biggest stages.
