In the eyes of NFL fans, Al Michaels injured the leg of one of the league’s most stable kickers during Thursday Night Football’s presentation of the Vikings-Chargers game on Prime Video. The premature prediction follows weeks of NFL fans urging the sports veteran to be fired after several errors during live television.
The Los Angeles Chargers pieced together a campaign that saw Justin Herbert orchestrate a seven-play, 61-yard march down the field. He fired a 40-yard laser to Oronde Gadsden, and two plays later he dropped a 12-yard ball to Keenan Allen, which was enough to bring the Chargers within striking distance.
Cameron Dicker ran the field as one of the league’s most accurate kickers with a perfect 15-15 on attempts this season, including a 55-yarder in a 27-10 loss to the Washington Commanders. Michaels seemed pretty sure Dicker would give it a try.
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“Forty-nine yard attempt,” he began to say. “For years the Chargers were struggling to find a kicker spot until they came across this guy. And he’s been fabulous. Cameron Dicker. As a fourth grader, he played his college ball at Texas, trying to connect from forty-nine points…”
The ball left the kicker’s hands and was sent into the air, eventually drifting wide left. “And of course,” Michaels added. “We’ve done kabooshed (kickers) before. This is the perfect season.”
NFL fans were quick to label the longtime sports commentator a lucky charm online. One fan wrote, “I think Al Michaels gets a sick thrill after Jinxing kickers,” while another added, “All time announcer doing jinks by Al Michaels… no shame.”
Another wrote: “Al Michaels is in line with the kicker jinx. Cameron Dicker never had a chance.” A third fan reacted to the play and said: “Al Michaels spent this whole game explaining that Cameron Dicker couldn’t miss a kick. Of course he was going to miss that.”
The missed clash fortunately occurred with the Vikings holding a comfortable lead at half-time. Under Carson Wentz, the offense failed to capitalize on the play, leading to a punt on the next drive.
They followed the turnover on downs with a missed field goal of their own, when Will Reichard’s 53-yard attempt went wide as time expired before halftime. Minnesota would score its first touchdown of the game late in the third quarter after Wentz completed a short 4-yard pass to Jordan Addison.
Since entering the league, Dicker has displayed elite accuracy. In 45 career games, he has converted 106 of 112 field goal attempts, achieving a success rate of 94.6 percent.
His longest kick was 59 yards last season, although it ended in a 170-15 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Dicker has over 420 career points. and was impeccable for forty meters and more. Even beyond fifty yards, he made seventeen of twenty-two career kicks.
Chargers kickers have only missed six field goals in four seasons and have successfully converted 106 of 109 extra point attempts. In a sport where kickers often struggle in the spotlight, he usually stays calm under pressure…but not this time after Michael’s nod.
