{
  "id": 3879029,
  "title": "Al Michaels is clearly not a fan of NFL’s virtual measurement system",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/28/al-michaels-is-clearly-not-a-fan-of-nfls-virtual-measurement-system",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-28T03:23:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/al-michaels-clearly-not-fan-032319047.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Al Michaels was visibly annoyed with the NFL's virtual measurement system during a preseason game between the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots on Thursday night. Michaels, who was in the booth for Amazon Prime Video, expressed his frustration with the lengthy process of making the call. After a Patriots receiver was clearly short of the first-down marker, Michaels quickly informed the audience that New England would be facing fourth-and-1. However, the official call took much longer than expected, prompting Michaels to question the effectiveness of the virtual measurement system. He pointed out that the process takes about two seconds in baseball but is still taking too long in football. Michaels criticized the system, saying, \"Here’s the virtual measurement. It works great in baseball. I love it in baseball. Baseball takes about two seconds. And we’re still waiting. Come on now.\" By the time the call was finally made, Michaels was exasperated, remarking, \"We could've done three commercials. Short by what? By two feet, three inches, and that called for a virtual measurement?!\" Michaels emphasized that while the stakes were low in a preseason game, referees should not have to wait excessively long for a decision, especially if it could be made more efficiently.",
  "summary": "Al Michaels was back in the booth on Thursday night for Amazon Prime Video, and while it was preseason on the field between the Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots, Michaels’s attitude was in midseason form. One of the highlights of the night came from Michaels’s extremely clear frustration with the NFL’s virtual measurement system.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}