Al Michaels has all the stats every time a kicker lines up to kick a field goal. But one of the stats he shared Thursday night apparently got him in trouble with the NFL.
During Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football, Vikings kicker Will Reichard lined up for a kick in the first half. As the Minnesota kicker got set, Michaels informed viewers that Reichard’s only miss this season came during the Vikings game against the Brows in London, when the ball hit a wire connected to the Skycam.
No problem, we all remember that. Moving right along.
The next time Reichard got up to kick, Michaels revealed to viewers that his earlier explanation of Reichard’s miss had ruffled feathers at NFL headquarters.
“The league wants to take my lunch away because I said before that Reichard’s only miss was hitting a wire in London,” Michaels told viewers. “The league says, ‘No, no. It was an optical illusion.’ Not what Reichard thinks. Anyway, there you have it. We cleaned it up. I’m always cleaning up our mess. My mess.”
Here is the video of Reichard’s kick appearing to hit the wire.
As seen in the video, the wire clearly wobbles, and the ball clearly changes direction. The league apparently wants you to believe you didn’t really see this happen.
But Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio points out the league’s lack of transparency and questions why it didn’t issue the “optical illusion” line at the time.
“At the time, the unofficial position was that there was no clear view of the ball striking the cable, not that it was an ‘optical illusion.’ If that was/is the position, it should have been articulated affirmatively and clearly — not in reaction to Al Michaels pointing it out, nearly three weeks later.
“Transparency is the key. If Michaels hadn’t said what he said, the league never would have said anything more about it.”
This seems to be the main point: If the league is going to conclude something, as insane as it may be, it needs to come out and say it and not just use it as a bludgeon for when people paid to talk about their sport say things that can be seen with the naked eye. If they don’t do that, one could come away with the distinct impression that even they don’t believe what they’re shoveling.
