Humans tend to become more outspoken as they age, caring less about how they are perceived thanks to gains in wisdom and confidence.
Veteran broadcaster Al Michaels, who will turn 81 next month, was not shy about voicing his opinion even in his much younger days. But he espoused a delightfully matter-of-fact outspoken-ness on Thursday Night Football in regard to one of the more amusing subplots in the Vikings’ season.
As Vikings kicker Will Reichard lined up a 54-yard field goal in the first half of Minnesota’s eventual 37-10 loss to the Chargers, Michaels mused: “His only miss this year is when he hit a wire with a camera in London.”
There seems to be pretty clear evidence that such a thing happened, and the Vikings believe that is what happened to Reichard’s kick that could have cost the Vikings dearly (but didn’t when they rallied to beat Cleveland 21-17).
The league’s stance in the aftermath was that “replay assist did not see a view that showed the kick hitting a wire.” The story had faded into the background ... until Michaels brought it up Thursday.
It’s hard to say what happened between him mentioning it in the first half and Reichard lining up another attempt in the third quarter (a kick that was taken off the board because of a Chargers penalty), but Michaels had this to say on that try:
“The league wants to take my lunch away because I said before that Reichard’s only miss was hitting a wire in London. The league says, ‘No, no, that was an optical illusion.’ That’s not what Reichard thinks. Anyway, there you have it. We cleaned it up.”
The game has been over for weeks and it’s a moot point. What does matter is that the NFL is trying to squash the idea that the kick hit a wire without offering any real evidence.
