Al Michaels went viral after mixing up Arthur Smith’s coaching history during Thursday Night Football, sparking fan calls for the 80-year-old to retire
21:25 ET, 16 Oct 2025Updated 21:40 ET, 16 Oct 2025
Al Michaels before the game
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Al Michaels made a coach history mistake during Prime Video which led to fans calling for his job
Al Michaels has called more iconic moments than most broadcasters dream of, but Thursday night might have been one he'd rather forget. Viewers of Amazon Prime Video's Thursday Night Football flooded social media to demand that the 80-year-old commentator retire after a mistake made during the Bengals–Steelers broadcast.
While discussing Pittsburgh's offense, Michaels said that Arthur Smith was "once the head coach of the Titans." The only problem was that Smith was never Tennessee's head coach and instead served as the Titans' offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2020 before taking over as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2021 to 2023.
He's now the Steelers' offensive coordinator, and for some NFL fans, that slip-up was seemingly unforgivable. "Is Al Michaels done? Lots of mistakes and just said Smith was the former coach of the Titans," one fan wrote on X. "When is it just time?"
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Another added, "Lmao, did Al Michaels just say Arthur Smith was the head coach of the Tennessee Titans? On live TV?!"
Fans urged respecting Michaels' legacy but also asked him to consider retiring due to his energy levels and pronunciation issues during broadcasts.
He accidentally referred to Bengals running back Chase Brown as Chase Daniel, a former NFL quarterback who hasn't started an NFL game since 2019.
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