Al Michaels Reveals Which Way He's 'Leaning' for 2025 'Thursday Night Football' Return

The 80-year-old has been calling games for Amazon's Prime Video since 2022.

Thursday Night Football Amazon Prime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels during the game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints at SoFi Stadium. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Prime Video's Al Michaels remains one of the NFL's signature voices through his work on Thursday Night Football. Ahead of his final broadcast of the season, Saturday night's Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers rivalry game in the wild-card round, he says he doesn't expect that it will be the last of his career.

Appearing on The Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch, Michaels said he is "leaning heavily" towards a return to the booth for the 2025 season.

“I am leaning very heavily in that direction, yes,” Michaels said when asked about his plans for 2025. “I want to make sure, No. 1, I’m healthy enough, which I am right now as we're recording this. I want to make sure I still have the passion for it, and I know I do. So you have those two factors that are key."

“I love the people I’m working with. They have put together, on the fly, not only Kirk [Herbstreit] and Kaylee [Hartung] who I work with in the game presentation, our pregame people. I love Andrew Whitworth, Tony Gonzalez, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Charissa Thompson's a fantastic host. I love being with those people! We have fun. So apart from when we're on the air, we have a lot of laughs, a lot of joy and a lot of fun. So why would I want to leave that, if I still feel I can do this, I'm healthy enough?"

Michaels, who has at times seemed exasperated by some of the lackluster matchups he's called for Prime Video, says his love for the Prime Video crew is key to him sticking around. The longtime broadcaster added that he's still chasing what he considers a perfect game.

"People say, 'You can retire, and go play golf.' I can play all the golf I need to play, Rich. It's diminishing returns these days too. So all I know is, I still get excited walking into a stadium, I still love to do what I do and working with the people I love, so why walk away? And if I felt I could not do the game at the level that I have to do it—and believe me, I am my own worst critic, there's no question about that. I never feel as if I pitched a perfect game. Ever."

Michaels, Herbstreit & Co. will be on the call for Ravens vs. Steelers at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday night.

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