Kirk Herbstreit makes a lot of money to call football games. The long-time broadcaster is estimated to make somewhere between $14-18 million per year between his duties calling college football games for ESPN and NFL games on Amazon on Thursday Night Football. Some people love Herbstreit for his candid analysis and love for his dog, Ben, who passed away from cancer in Nov. Other people dislike Herbstreit for his beliefs about player empowerment.
Kirk Herbstreit crying after Ohio State national championship confirms ESPN’s worst kept secret
Kirk Herbstreit blasted for lack of objectivity for crying after Ohio State’s national championship.
Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Herbstreit is obviously very good at his job regardless of how you feel about him. At the same time, the main goal of any broadcaster should be objectivity, and that’s where Herbstreit is coming under fire after Ohio State finished off its national championship run in the College Football Playoff on Monday night.
The Buckeyes beat Notre Dame, 34-23, in the national title game. After the game, Herbstreit broke down into tears when talking about how inspiring this Ohio State run through the playoff was after losing to Michigan earlier in the season. That would be all well and good, except for the fact that Herbstreit played quarterback for OSU from 1989-1993.
Shedding tears of joy when your alma mater wins the national championship? No shame in that .... unless you’re calling the game as a supposedly impartial broadcaster. Watch the clip here:
“When I call these games, I’m incredibly objective,” Herbstreit told Scott Van Pelt on ESPN after the game. “I love all of these Ohio State teams, but this team because of what they went through to get to this point, you’re just happy.”
Herbstreit said Ohio State “went to hell and back” after their loss to Michigan on Nov. 30. At the time, it was widely assumed that head coach Ryan Day was going to be fired after the season ended with four straight losses to his top rival. In seasons past, the Michigan lost would have ended Ohio State’s season. In the first year of the 12-team playoff, OSU got a chance to find redemption in the bracket, and they won out to win then natty.
College football fans were not buying Herbstreit’s supposed objectivity after the game:
Herbstreit makes enough money to handle a little criticism. It comes with the territory of his job. The announcer’s true colors showed during the national championship, and those colors happen to be scarlet and gray.
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