Kirk Herbstreit officially made his NFL debut on Thursday as the lead analyst for Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football. But how do his colleagues from ESPN’s College GameDay feel about him calling pro football games? In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Desmond Howard, a member of the College GameDay crew with Herbstreit, joked Herbstreit will have little to no time with his family during the season.
“I was like, ‘Wow, he’s going to have to reintroduce himself to Allison [Herbstreit’s wife] when the season’s over,’” Howard exclusively told PopCulture. “Because to Allison and Chase, his youngest son, because he’s barely ever going to be home. I mean, that’s a hell of a load, but if there’s one person who I think could pull it off it’s Kirk.”
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Howard went on to explain the “superpower” Herbstreit possesses. “When I played football, my superpower was my speed,” he said. “I was a 4.3 guy. His superpower that he was blessed with, and we talked about it before, it’s his gift. It’s his recall. And so, there’s one person who I think can make that transition seamlessly during a week from college to pro would be Kirk Herbstreit.”
“So, I’m really, really excited about this for him, and I can’t wait to watch him do his thing,” he continued. “Obviously, the NFL game is… It’s different, but there are a bunch of similarities to college football because now some of the tendencies from college football are starting to leak into the NFL. But it’s still a different game because it’s played at the ultimate level. It’s played at the highest level possible.”
Herbstreit calls the Thursday Night Football games with Al Michaels, who left NBC’s Sunday Night Football. The duo made their debut on Thursday night and saw the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Los Angeles Chargers. Herbstreit will focus on college football this weekend as he will be with the College GameDay crew at Appalachian State on Saturday. And on top of that, Herbstreit will be the game analyst for ABC Saturday Night Football with Chris Fowler. In his career, Herbstreit has won two Sports Emmy awards for Outstanding Event Analyst. He has been an analyst for College GameDay since August 1996.
