Al Michaels Makes His Thoughts on Retirement 'Farewell Tour' Perfectly Clear

Ryan Phillips | Apr 17, 2025

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

Al Michaels does not want a fairwell tour.

During an interview with Dan Le Batard on South Beach Sessions, the Hall of Fame broadcaster told the host he wouldn't want a victory tour.

"First of all, it would be embarrassing for me to do that, to go around the country, 'Oh this is Al's last game,'" Michaels said. "To me, it's not a big deal."

The 80-year-old said that because he's a national broadcaster, rather than working in a single market, a farewell tour wouldn't make sense.

"When you're on national television, there's really no home base," Michaels said. "And I suppose if I were an announcer for a team, I might have a farewell tour, but I'm all over the place."

Michaels also went on to say that doing that kind of tour would make himself the story which would, "Do a disservice to the business." He added, "So I don't want to be the story. I want to be the narrator or the connection or the conduit. But not the story, no."

In January, Michaels told Richard Deitsch he was "leaning very heavily" towards returning to Amazon's Thursday Night Football broadcasts in 2025, but has yet to make a decision.

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