Hallucinations are no laughing matter. Well, sometimes they can be.
Al Michaels, the 81-year-old play-by-play man for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, an absolute legend and future broadcast Hall of Famer, called something on a play during the Bears-Patriots game that didn’t happen.
About midway through the first quarter, New England quarterback Drake Maye handed off to Patriots running back Corey Kiner, who, after avoiding a hit from Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson, was rocked by defensive tackle Kentavius Street.
Kiner then became the middleman in a tug-of-war between the Patriots offensive line and the Bears defense, as both sides tried to push him forward and backward at the same time.
Michaels, who seemed a little flummoxed by the action, mysteriously said Kiner fumbled.
“And the ball comes out,” Michaels said. “The ball comes out this time from Corey Kiner.”
The only problem? The ball had not come out.
“Did Al Michaels just hallucinate a fumble?” one X user wrote.
“He sure did,” responded another.
Others were less charitable to the broadcasting legend.
“AL MICHAELS HAS COMPLETELY LOST IT… There was no fumble. Not even close to being a fumble,” another asserted.
It’s understandable why Michaels thought there might have been a fumble. The way the Bears and Patriots surrounded Kiner is similar to how they would gather if they were fighting over a loose ball.
However, one, of course, should never say the “ball comes out” unless they actually see it come out.
