ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit may want to stay off social media this weekend. After all, he’s getting crushed by countless college football fans.
Herbstreit has been ESPN’s lead college football analyst since 2006. There’s no question that his knowledge of the sport is second to none, but he does occasionally make a few remarks that really frustrate the public. Well, that was the case this week when he made an appearance on the “Net Positive” podcast with John Crist.
Even though Herbstreit has been accused of showing bias in the broadcast booth, he claims he’d never openly cheer for a team on national television. He also called out “SportsCenter” anchor Elle Duncan for actively supporting the Georgia Bulldogs.
We’re not kidding.
“You watch ‘SportsCenter’ and Elle Duncan is sitting there cheering for Georgia,” Herbstreit said. “She’s openly cheering. I’m not a fan of that personally. I think it hurts your credibility.”
Obviously, Duncan didn’t appreciate that jab from Herbstreit. It seemed uncalled for considering it came out of nowhere.
“Didn’t have this on my bingo card for today but my fandom doesn’t impact in any way what or how we talk about teams on air,” Duncan wrote on X. “Ever. I…JUST..BARK?? Also **whispers** I’m not the only one. So why I get singled out?”
Not only were fans shocked by Herbstreit’s remarks, they found them to be hypocritical.
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“This is rich coming from the biggest Clemson and Ohio State homer out there. I like Herby but cmon man. Have some self awareness,” one fan said.
“Says the guy who singlehandedly campaign and rooted for Alabama to get into the playoff over FSU two year ago. This is really rich coming from him,” a second fan replied.
Another fan said, “Wasn’t he about to cry on air when Ohio State won the national title and he was calling the game?”
“The actual crux of what Kirk said is correct — bias negatively impacts journalistic integrity — but calling out Elle Duncan when Kirk himself shows bias toward Ohio State is kind of insane,” a fourth fan wrote.
“The last person in sports that should be talking about credibility is Herbie,” a social media user declared.
Herbstreit has not yet addressed all the drama regarding his initial comments.
We’ll see if Herbstreit apologizes to Duncan or let’s this situation linger a bit longer.
Related: How Kirk Herbstreit’s Wife Influenced College GameDay’s Iconic Mascot Segment
