Kirk Herbstreit went out as Iron Man on CFP weekend. He called the Los Angeles Rams-Seattle Seahawks game on Amazon Prime Video. He then flew overnight to Oklahoma and jumped right into the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners with Chris Fowler. But doing all of this probably took too much of a toll. There were some slip ups despite the acknowledgement of the grind.

“I probably say it a few times a year, but the respect I have for Kirk Herbstreit to call an NFL game on Thursday (which went to OT), then call a college playoff game the next night is absolutely insane,” wrote LockedOnBroncos co-host Sayre Bedinger on December 19. “The knowledge of subject matter, the energy. He’s one of the greats.”

While Herbstreit was in his 26th year on ESPN College GameDay, he signed a deal with Amazon for Thursday Night Football in March 2022. The only problem is when the college playoffs also ends up being played on the very next day.

On December 18, Herbstreit was assigned the broadcast duties for the Los Angeles Rams vs the Seattle Seahawks. That’s where he made a blunder and had mistaken Sam Darnold for Sam Bradford.

“Well, all we have heard about is that Sam Bradford can’t win a big game,” as Darnold attempted to lead a game-winning drive.

Bradford, of course, once suited up for the Rams, the same team lining up against Sam Darnold on Thursday night. This might explain Herbstreit’s momentary brain freeze. But he had also ended up angering some fans of other teams who were not part of these playoffs.

Just two days before Alabama and Oklahoma kicked off their CFP showdown, Herbstreit jumped on social media with a long-form apology, owning up to what he called “disrespect” toward the college football world the previous weekend.

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“We posted the video with a caption that was very misleading about ‘weird not having any CFB this weekend’. Some took that out of context and ran with it-that’s on me. My apologies for any disrespect (albeit unintentional) to the teams that played last weekend,” wrote Herbstreit. 

There was college football that weekend, most notably the Army-Navy game, one of the sport’s most respected and tradition-heavy matchups.

This weekend’s CFP game between Alabama and Oklahoma, too, brought heat for Herbstreit. As both Chris Fowler and Herbstreit hit the commentary box, reactions from fans quickly followed. 

Fans point fingers at Kirk Herbstreit for juggling too many things

Even though Alabama overcame the deficit and ended up with a 34-24 win against Oklahoma, fans were expecting some unbiased commentary. “Kirk Herbstreit is so bad I’m watching the CFP game on mute,” a fan commented, finding Herbstreit extra-enthusiastic about Alabama.

With the offense searching for a spark against Alabama’s suffocating defense, John Mateer took matters into his own hands.“Dude I swear Kirk Herbstreit has some sort of vendetta against Mateer,” defended a fan. The signal-caller sliced through Alabama’s defense for a rushing touchdown, giving Oklahoma the opening score as the analyst shed a spotlight only on the Alabama game.

“Kirk Herbstreit is unbearable,” wrote a fan.

Another fan picked up the minute details from Herbstreit’s playcalling. “Listening to Kirk Herbstreit credit Alabama for ‘fighting back’ is so disingenuous and patronizing. The pick six was a who-the-hell-you-throwing-to pass, and the botched punt was an unforced error by the punter,” wrote a fan.

The scoring swings were driven more by Oklahoma’s unforced errors than by Alabama suddenly seizing control. That’s why Herbstreit’s praise struck as patronizing.

“Kirk Herbstreit has gotten unbelievably worse over the past few years. Guy might make me watch the rest of the game on mute,” wrote another fan. ESPN College GameDay host Herbstreit has been the face of the show. However, fans are now raising concerns about his biased attitude.

Looking ahead, will Herbstreit finally trim his schedule and stop juggling too many hats at once?