Kirk Herbstreit Makes Painful Admission About Mental Health, Weeks After Being Targeted by OSU Fans

“Some idiots do this in Texas, and now all of a sudden we see it popping up in college football. Enough’s enough, clowns. What are you doing? Just embarrassing to LSU, embarrassing to college football. Just around the country, enough is enough.”. This was a fiery Kirk Herbstreit as he tore apart LSU fans in a scathing verdict, as bottles rained down from the LSU stands against Alabama last year. This fiery, furious, almost fire-breathing Kirk Herbstreit wasn’t new to college football. The announcer never shied away from celebrating moments like a hardcore fan and became the harshest critic, even for his alma mater, when needed. But it did come with its consequences.

An Ohio State alum who even played as a starting quarterback in his senior season at Ohio State. So, you would think that the announcer would have a soft spot for his college, right? Well, that is certainly true, as we saw the announcer jump in joy in an emotional moment when Ohio State clinched the title, beating the Irish. But that hasn’t stopped the announcer from calling out some ‘fringe’ Ohio State fans when needed.

Last season, when Ryan Day’s loss against Michigan led to him and his family getting all kinds of threats on social media, Kirk didn’t hold back. “The lunatic fringe at Ohio State is as powerful as anywhere in the country. It used to be 8-10 [percent of the fanbase]. I think it’s grown now to about 15-20….” Herbstreit said after OSU’s win over Tennessee. As a result, this love-hate relationship described by OSU fans has led them to troll the announcer and even issue dire threats to him on social media. This, in Kirk’s words, takes a toll on his “mental health” as he expands on his coping mechanism.

In a recent book launch event for his book ‘Out of the Pocket,’ the announcer said to rely on “prayer“, “faith,” and “forgiveness” to face those everyday trolls. “For me, it’s my faith. You know, I get tested a lot… So my answer is, a lot of times, delete the app. That’s not healthy, right? That’s like putting a Band-Aid on something. So, I’ve just found a daily devotional prayer, and really trying to connect helps me.”

It certainly hasn’t been easy with Kirk over the years, with the advent of social media and widespread trolls. Just recently, the announcer lost his favorite dog, Ben, which also took a toll on his mental health. Moreover, his wife was also recently diagnosed with cancer, and his son Zak had heart failure two years ago. So, balancing these personal challenges and dealing with online criticism is a tough task, and even after that, Kirk never fails to amaze and entertain us with his sleek, edgy, and analytical insights from the press box.

Kirk Herbstreit clears his stance after accusations of ‘SEC bias’

After Ohio State won the national title, Kirk certainly was impressed and visibly emotional. But after that game, Kirk got himself in muddy waters after he berated the selection committee on Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina for missing the playoffs over programs like SMU. The announcer was accused of SEC bias and had to face some of the harshest criticisms after his statement. Herbstreit later clarified his stance.

“Let me straighten the record on one last thing,” he said. “ESPN loves the SEC so much that we could not have paid for a better Final Four with Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, and Texas. If you’re asking us who we would want, we’ll take Ohio State every year, Notre Dame every…like this is a ratings bonanza.”. Well, the clarification wasn’t without its own skepticism, as the damage seemed to have been done.

People pointed towards the falling ratings of the CFB national championship final and how even Ohio State vs. Notre Dame couldn’t save the falling ratings. This was true to an extent, too, as we saw the TV viewership decline, although the total number was still close to 22 million viewers in the final. But compared to last year, there was a 12% drop in total viewership (per ESPN). All in all, Kirk has found a way to cope with critics and trolls, and we would hope that the announcer continues to keep us entertained without any hiccups.