Would Al Michaels and Peyton Manning save Monday Night Football?

ESPN wants to pair them, but would Al Michaels and Peyton Manning save Monday Night Football?

ESPN wanted Tony Romo, before he signed a mega-deal to stay at CBS. But a reshaping of the Monday Night Football booth is still on the radar, with Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reporting ESPN is trying to trade for Al Michaels and team him with Peyton Manning in an answer to CBS’ booth of Jim Nantz and Romo.

Michaels has been with NBC as the play-by-play man for “Sunday Night Football” since 2006, but Monday Night Football is not uncharted territory for him. He was the play-by-play guy on that marquee stage from 1986-2005, before MNF moved to ESPN and he went to NBC. He has two years left on his contract with NBC.

ESPN has apparently been courting Manning, so the idea he is their backup plan to Romo is no surprise. He has done some excellent work on ESPN +, via a show called “Detail”, but it has been out there he didn’t want to step into a broadcast booth while his brother Eli was playing. Of course Eli has retired, so that door is theoretically open for Peyton if he is willing now.

Due in part to a generally lackluster set of games, the quality of “Monday Night Football” has fallen off in recent years. The last two seasons, with Joe Tessitore, Jason Witten and Booger McFarland in 2018 then just Tessitore and McFarland last year, the broadcast booth has particularly lacked authority as Witten and McFarland often trip over themselves as analysts. Tessitore has been a great boxing and college football play-by-play man, but MNF feels too big for him.

Michaels might be the best play-by-plan man around. Manning would bring his meticulous high-level preparation as a quarterback to a role as a game analyst, to go with a personality and charisma he has shown.

Michaels and Manning would bring instant credibility back to “Monday Night Football”, and save the lagging iconic sports broadcasting franchise. But will it actually happen?