NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast for Week 9’s matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears will have a different voice on the play-by-play call.
Mike Tirico will miss Sunday night’s telecast “due to a health issue,” he announced in a statement. Noah Eagle will replace him on play-by-play, alongside regular analyst Cris Collinsworth and reporter Melissa Stark. (Eagle called Saturday’s Notre Dame-Miami game as NBC’s No. 1 college football announcer.)
Tirico, 59, will have to wait one more week to call the 300th NFL broadcast of his acclaimed career. He became NBC’s primary play-by-play announcer for “Sunday Night Football” in 2022, taking over for Al Michaels. He filled in on several “SNF” telecasts before that while Michaels took “bye weeks” during the 2020 season to minimize travel.
Previously, Tirico had replaced Michaels on “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts when NBC had that rights package during the 2017 season.
