Ian Eagle addresses criticisms of Al Michaels' NFL broadcasts

CBS Sports and Westwood One Radio Sports NFL play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle is the latest noteworthy individual to address criticisms lobbed toward legendary broadcaster Al Michaels regarding how Michaels calls "Thursday Night Football" games for Amazon Prime Video. 

"His approach, his style and his command of the broadcast, you put that at the top of the list," Eagle said about Michaels during the latest edition of the "SI Media With Jimmy Traina" podcast, as shared by Brendon Kleen of Awful Announcing. "As far as where we are in the world, everybody is allowed to have an opinion, everybody is allowed to share that opinion. There are certainly more avenues to share that than ever before. In this job, I’ve found that it is part of the deal. You can’t control it. You can handle it in any way you so choose, but you can’t control it." 

Michaels, who turned 79 years old this past weekend, has routinely been on the receiving end of complaints from fans and analysts who claim he often sounds disinterested or even bored during games he's calling. Andrew Marchand of the New York Post noted last week that Michaels earns "an estimated $500,000 to $1M" per game, and Michaels told Marchand he plans to continue working through at least next NFL season. 

Michaels hasn't been shy about responding to critics throughout 2023 even though both he and Eagle understand such takes come with working high-profile gigs. 

"Al’s been doing this at the highest level forever," Eagle added during the podcast episode. "And Al’s going to do it the way that he sees fit because he’s earned it. But you also can’t just dismiss that others may have an opinion. They’re allowed to have an opinion, that’s how it works."

Michaels and broadcast partner Kirk Hebrstreit theoretically should have a great matchup to call when the 5-4 Cincinnati Bengals play at the 7-3 Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night. One thing for certain about the broadcast is that Michaels won't change his style for that or any assignment at this stage of his storied career.