It was also during this time when he made his radio broadcasting debut on a one-hour Sunday night show at midnight on WIL, which invited individual SLU students to be the hosts every week.

[4] Michael was the first Philadelphia rock and roll radio personality to read the scores of local high school football and basketball games on the air.

[citation needed] Michael, noted for his energetic style, was hired by WABC in New York City; his first on-air stint there was on the evening of September 9, 1974.

[11][12] Michael now not only was entering the nation's largest media market; he also succeeded radio legend "Cousin Brucie" Morrow, who had jumped to competitor WNBC.

[14] Even though he was reunited with Dan Ingram and Ron Lundy (colleagues from his WIL days in St. Louis), Michael's time at WABC, which ended on November 17, 1979, was mostly frustrating because he was no longer a music director who had any influence on a playlist which was much shorter than the ones with which he was more familiar.

[11] He served as an occasional substitute on ABC American Contemporary Network's Speaking of Sports show whenever Howard Cosell, the primary commentator, was on vacation or assignment.

Michael got significant latitude in his programming, employing a bevy of segments some viewers might consider old-fashioned, including his "Tuesday Replays" and "Wednesday Wrestling".

He also had devoted extensive coverage to and was considered a significant influence in the popularity of NASCAR, broadcasting interviews with famous drivers such as Dale Earnhardt well before that sport became what it is today.

He was completely dropped from WRC-TV owing to budget cuts despite the fact Redskins Report was consistently one of WRC's top sports shows.

Michael died at age 70 at Sibley Memorial Hospital on December 24, 2009, after being diagnosed with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia two years prior.