Legendary sports broadcaster Al Michaels has been a staple in the broadcast booth over the last several decades. With his age has come questions regarding his future in the business. Michaels has dived into that topic by using future Hall of Famer Tom Brady to reveal his retirement plans.

Al Michaels’ broadcasting career

Since the late 1970s, Al Michaels has been in the broadcast booth covering various sports.

Michaels continues to extend his legendary career that spans over the years, covering the Winter Olympics, the World Series, horse racing, the Super Bowl, and college football. He held down ABC Monday Night Football from 1986-2006 next to Hall of Famer John Madden.

The 76-year-old has since moved to NBC Sunday Night Football in 2006, where he has also called a couple of Super Bowls next to Cris Collinsworth. With his age comes reasonable questions concerning his long-term future in the booth.

Al Michaels references Tom Brady to discuss his retirement plans

Al Michaels continues to remain on a steady course with his sports broadcasting career.

As Michaels nears closer to his 80s, the question concerning his long-term future in the industry becomes a prominent question. The legendary broadcaster recently spoke to Newsday about his retirement plans, which he used Tom Brady as a reference point on how to he views the situation.

“I’m just kind of living right now in the present time, in the moment,” Michaels said. “I think I’m like [Tom] Brady or [Drew] Brees or those guys who are going, ‘Hey, you know the end is closer than the beginning,’ but you don’t want to think about it.

“I do know I love what I’m doing. I enjoy it more than ever. I’ve talked to the guys I just mentioned, the quarterbacks, about this, and some other guys who are near the end of their careers, and in a way I think you begin to savor it even more because you don’t have that much time.”

Although Michaels isn’t thinking about retirement, he knows that it remains around the corner. He referred to his current standing with his career as being on the “15th fairway” of an 18-hole golf course. His focus remains solely on the week-to-week workload rather than the grander picture.

His comparison to Tom Brady’s mindset regarding retirement does demonstrate that he has given stepping away some thought. There may not be a time frame, but it’s inching closer to that eventual finish line.

NBC appears prepared for the move

Al Michaels is continuing to stave off the thought of retirement, but it’s hard to ignore the situation.

Michaels is securing in his role at NBC for Sunday Night Football alongside longtime broadcast partner Cris Collinsworth. The 76-year-old isn’t indicating retirement anytime soon, but the signs are there that he’s getting closer.

Michaels’ workload schedule for the 2020 season was scaled back as he has not been in the booth for a few games. In his place has been veteran play-by-play announcer Mike Trico.

Since joining NBC, Trico has taken a prominent role with the company in various spots. Among those is taking up broadcasting NFL games over the last couple of years. The growing notion is that the company has a strong sentiment toward Trico seeing his role in the football realm increase.

The pathway may very well include him taking up more Sunday Night Football games as needed in the NFL seasons ahead. All that could make for a smoother transition once Michaels decides to step into retirement. Whenever that situation arises, NBC appears to be well prepared for the move.