Leave it to Al Michaels to get a little sassy for a moment during “Thursday Night Football” and sneak in a little jab at the Houston Astros, who made banging on trash cans infamous after using it as part of their 2017 sign-stealing scheme.
During the second quarter of the Browns’ 37-20 win over the Jets, Prime Video crowd mics picked up a banging noise at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
At that point in the game, the Jets were trailing 27-7 to the Browns, with New York controlling the ball on third-and-17 and the sound appeared to be something to hype the home crowd up.
“Somebody’s pounding on that trash can, I think the Astros must be in town,” Michaels said jokingly. “I’m sorry. … Don’t rip me”
Broadcast partner Kirk Herbstreit got a good laugh out of it before they returned to calling the action.
The joke delighted some of those on X who were watching the game.
“The Houston Astros catching strays from Al Michaels in this Browns game,” one X user wrote along with an emoji of a chef’s kiss.
“Al Michaels taking shots at the Astros,” someone else wrote, adding a GIF of actor and wrestling star John Cena making a surprised face.
“Al Michaels never forgets,” a third person on X wrote.
The comment even seemed to completely change one viewer’s outlook on Michaels.
“I’ve been slandering AL Michaels all year but I’m never gonna say anything bad about him again,” the person wrote on the social media platform.
The Astros were, of course, involved in a sign-stealing scandal that was the talk of baseball several years ago and has marred their 2017 World Series title.
The MLB club illegally used a camera system to observe opposing teams’ signs before relaying them to the batter using audio cues, such as banging on a trash can.
Baseball fans — especially Yankees fans — have not let the organization live the scandal down since.