Longtime Republican Al Michaels took a jab at Trump and NFL fans went spiraling out of control

Al Michaels, 81, might still have his fastball. For years, he’s been teetering. Believe me, I’ve spent many a Friday morning writing about how bad Al was on the call the night before.

But during Amazon Prime’s one and only preseason game Thursday night, Michaels came out firing — and, naturally, set the internet ablaze in the process.

“That is Lake Erie. We think it is still called Lake Erie … We’re not quite sure at this point,” Michaels said during the Patriots-Browns broadcast in Cleveland.

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“But we’ll be by Lake something like Ontario or whatever it’s going to be called by the time we get to Buffalo. Anyway, you know what I’m talking about … Read the news.”

Fans divided on Al’s comments

Incredible. A couple things …

1. If anyone is actually mad at this, you probably need to take a good look in the mirror and reassess some things. For years, all I heard was “liberals don’t laugh enough!” Let’s not be one of them.
2. Al Michaels has a long history of donating to the GOP. Doesn’t mean he voted for President Donald Trump, but it means he’s probably sane.

1. You can be a Republican and still admit that Trump changing the name of a lake on a random Thursday in August with war raging in the east and the primaries two months away is, objectively, hilarious. And dumb. Both things can be true.
2. Anything — and I mean anything — is better than Kirk Herbstreit’s dog. At least we didn’t get any of that last night from this booth. I’d take Al lecturing us on politics for three straight hours over Herbie’s dog.

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Now, because we live in such a divisive time, fans went nuts over Al’s comments last night. Some loved the jab at Trump. Others hated it.

Weirdly, the internet couldn’t seem to agree on it. Shocking, I know.

“NFL fans don’t want to watch Trump-hating, America-last announcers. Al Michaels must apologize,” one fan said on X.

“He should be grateful to live in a country that would pay someone who is barely alive millions to butcher a football game,” added another.

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“Remember when Bob Costas tried to get political in 2012 about gun control and he managed to piss off pretty much every person and the nation …” said a third.

Amazing.

Of course, you had the complete other side of the spectrum, too.

“Ironically, Al Michaels was a big republican back in the day.”

“I’ve seen enough. Al Michaels comeback season. Top of his game!”

And, of course, my personal favorite:

That’s true. Al would absolutely give us a history lesson on all the great lakes in America (Canada?) if he had the time. Lord knows Bob Costas would’ve done it whether he had the time or not.

Anyway, I’d chalk it up to a solid start to Thursday Night Football this season. Al Michaels is still making waves at 81, and that’s say something after the past few years.

Well done.