Al Michaels had football fans buzzing on Thursday night after a slip that hit a particularly sensitive nerve with college football followers.
Calling the Falcons’ game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field for Amazon Prime Video, Michaels tried to walk viewers through Michael Penix Jr.’s college path early in the broadcast. He said Penix began at Indiana and then spent “two great years at Oregon.”
The problem was immediate: Penix didn’t play at Oregon. He played at Washington, a bitter rival of the Ducks.
Michaels corrected the mistake quickly and moved on with the game, but the damage was already done online. Fans wasted no time pouncing on the mix-up, especially because it involved two schools with a fierce rivalry.
One fan wrote on X, “Al Michaels just committed the cardinal sin of football, saying Michael Penix had ‘two great years at Oregon.’ He corrected himself after my blood pressure had already spike.”
Another user posted, “Al Michaels is already drunk. He said Michael Penix went to Oregon when he actually went to Washington.”
A third viewer chimed in, “Al Michaels just said Penix played at Oregon after Indiana. Flying out of the gate.”
Another fan pointed out that someone seemed to correct Michaels in his ear during the broadcast, writing, “Al Michaels really just said ‘started his career at Indiana, then two great years at Oregon’ bruh Someone got in his ear to correct him right away, but confusing Washington for their rival won’t make fans happy,”
The slip came during a week in which Michaels had already drawn criticism. Last Thursday Night, he talked about Donald Trump’s failed attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills, noting that Ralph Wilson’s successor, Terry Pegula, bought the team for $1.4 billion in 2014. Michaels also mentioned Trump’s reported $1 billion bid and said the league chose Pegula instead.
This time, though, the reaction centered on one basic fact: Michael Penix Jr. went to Washington, not Oregon. And for a lot of fans watching, that was enough to turn the broadcast into a running joke.
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