Al Michaels is expected to land a big contract with Amazon after NBC let him go.
1. Amazon was determined to put together an A-list booth for Thursday Night Football and it appears it has succeeded.
The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand reports that Amazon is ready to lock up Al Michaels for three years at $10 million per year to call all 16 of their games beginning this season.
Michaels will work with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit, who is adding the NFL to his college football duties.
While most sports fans (and many people) can’t get over the astronomical salaries for NFL broadcasters, I say good for Michaels.
Here’s a man who was still at the top of his craft calling Sunday Night Football, and got pushed out by NBC. The network has had Mike Tirico, who is an excellent play-by-play man, waiting in the wings for several years to take over for Michaels. With Michaels’s contract up after this past season, this was the time for NBC to make the switch.
I firmly believe NBC moved on from Michaels because of his age. It would’ve been very easy for Michaels to hang it up after calling this year’s Bengals-Rams Super Bowl, so for Michaels to land that kind of deal at 77 years old is impressive and speaks to the high quality he still brings to each broadcast.
Amazon wanted credibility and it has gotten that with Michaels and Herbstreit.
2. Aaron Rodgers showed us once again that he loves a little word play.
You'll recall on March 8, the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport sent this tweet.
Later that day, Rodgers sent out a tweet that was intended to cast doubt on the Rapoport report.
Cut to Tuesday morning and Rodgers finally "signing" his new deal, which was for $186 million instead of the $200 million Rapoport reported. Oh, and Rapoport also got the guaranteed money right.
3. Eagles offensive lineman, Jason Kelce, sang the national anthem before last night’s Nuggets-Sixers game and it was awesome.
4. I'm praying this is real.
5. Good read here for my fellow degenerates on some fishy betting activity going on with Tampa Bay Buccaneers futures before Tom Brady announced he was coming back.
6. The latest SI Media Podcast features two interviews. First up is Chris “Mad Dog” Russo from SiriusXM and First Take. Russo talks about how his weekly gig with Stephen A. Smith came about, his reaction to the overwhelming positive reviews, the bond New Yorkers have with the old Mike and the Mad Dog show and much more.
Following Russo, Mike Florio from ProFootballTalk joins the SI Media Podcast to talk about the latest NFL news.
The podcast wraps up with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, Sal Licata, from WFAN and SNY TV, fight about the Calvin Ridley suspension.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I'm a sucker for these videos that people make imagining what an episode of Seinfeld would look like today.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.