One of the more unique things about Al Michaels is his refusal to eat any vegetables whatsoever.
The play-by-play voice, who will be calling Thursday Night Football for Amazon with Kirk Herbstreit this year, was asked on The Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast when his aversion to veggies began, to which Michaels said it has been going on his entire life.
“Forever. My parents were 18 when I was born. My mother didn’t even know who Dr. Spock was in those years, so I was the kid who was just, ‘rah, no way, no way. I want a steak. I want a potato,’” Michaels said. “And I just pushed it away and mom said fine. So, here I am. What the f—k can I tell ya? I think it’s the key to life.”
Michaels, 77, has spoken about his unusual diet in the past, noting last year that former NBC Sports sideline reporter Michele Tafoya tricked him into eating a Brussel sprout — the only time he has knowingly consumed a vegetable.
But on the podcast, Andrew Marchand said he had heard Michaels drank a V8 — which has vegetables in it.
“The eight vegetables in V8…I hate all of them by themselves,” Michaels explained. “But if you put them together with enough sugar and enough sodium and ice, I can down it. But it pales in comparison to Michele Tafoya once sneaking a Brussel sprout — she said this was a French fry try this…I knew right away I had been set up — I did ingest a little bit of it…I’ve had one morsel of a Brussel sprout and a V8.
“But that doesn’t count, Andrew. That’s a phony deal. You know that.”
Marchand noted that Michaels isn’t alone with his aversion to vegetables and that other notable sports broadcasters — including Michael Kay and Ian Eagle — do not eat vegetables, either.
“It might be the key to broadcasting,” Marchand said.
“It’s all nonsense,” Michaels added.
Michaels was appearing on the podcast with Kirk Herbstreit, who they joked would need to ask him about his diet next time, leaving Michaels with these parting words:
“Never go inside a place with a sign that says ‘vegan’ on it,” he said. “Never.”
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