NFL Network will not be hiring Al Michaels as the play-by-play voice of its live regular-season game coverage, Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports.All indications are that NFL Network would have loved to hire Michaels, but that Michaels declined:
"NBC was open to it, but it didn't work out from Al's point of view," said Steve Bornstein, the president of the NFL Network. "We never got to the specifics."Michaels has, in the past, indicated that he much prefers being on network television to cable. He has derided ESPN as a "four-letter network," and if ESPN is too small-time for Michaels, NFL Network obviously would be, too.
With Michaels out of the picture and Bryant Gumbel long gone, next up for NFL Network could be Tom Hammond, an old pro who would be a solid if not spectacular addition.
