Al Michaels talks replay problems, ratings, Super Bowl LII, infamous O.J Simpson prank call and more

NBC broadcaster Al Michaels says the NFL must address instant replay problems.
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NBC play-by-play man Al Michaels joined the latest episode of "Off The Board" with Jimmy Traina and weighed in on many issues including his frustrations with the NFL's replay system.

Specifically, Michaels is fed up with how long it takes for a replay call to be made and he thinks the NFL will fix the problem.

"They will address that. It's got to be done faster. If you're gonna let New York make the calls, let them make the calls, period. Let's go. Come on. If you're gonna make the call in New York, what are you looking at?"

Michaels was particularly baffled by the referees taking a long time to confirm Stefon Diggs' game-winning touchdown the NFC Championship game.

"On the Diggs play that won the game against New Orleans, he's clearly in bounds. It took them two-and-a-half to three minutes to confirm? Why? [Sunday Night Football executive producer] Fred Gaudelli and I were talking about it after the game and we go, 'What are they looking at?' And the only thing I could think of is that it was such a monumental play -- one of the great plays in history -- and they probably were looking for something they didn't even think about. Fine. What could they be looking at? Diggs was in bounds. There was never a question about Diggs being out of bounds. Once you open it up, you open up the whole play and we couldn't figure it out."

To sum things up, Michael said, "This thing needs to be addressed and will be addressed. And they've got to make this quicker, faster and get to it and stop all this craziness of a five-minute delay."

During the podcast, Michaels also goes in depth on the infamous O.J. SImpson prank call to Peter Jennings, his love of Howard Stern and how often people scream out "Farcical" or "Lest anyone think" to him.

Michaels also talked about the NFL's decline ratings, whether he plans on stepping away any time soon, what his approach is to calling a Super Bowl, his job on The Dating Game andwhether he thinks the XFL can return​.

You can listen to the podcast below or on iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher.


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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.