Kirk Herbstreit announces his wife, Ali, was diagnosed with breast cancer

Kirk Herbstreit shared during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday that his wife Ali was diagnosed with breast cancer over the course of this past year.

The news came to light after Herbstreit was emotional during the postgame broadcast over Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. It wasn’t just seeing his son Zak Herbstreit be a part of a championship squad or the memories of his beloved companion Ben, but it was a culmination of emotions that he divulged to McAfee, including his wife’s ailment.

“I only know how I feel at the time,” Herbstreit said, via The Pat McAfee Show. “That’s not something you think about or predict. It’s just like a perfect storm for me. My son had heart failure two years ago. They were talking about a heart replacement there for a while, and he had to medically retire. And Ryan Day, I think, the gratitude I have for Ryan Day putting his arms around Zak and keeping him involved. You know, he’s almost like a GA with what he was doing. And Ryan insisted on putting his arms around him. Chip Kelly, all these guys. So there was that side of it, looking down and seeing him in his jersey after, you know, potentially facing replacing your heart to that. 

“I haven’t really talked about this publicly, but Ali, my wife, faced some stuff. It’s been a tough year for me behind the scenes. My wife got diagnosed with breast cancer. You know, Ben dies, it was just a lot of emotion. And when you’re doing what we do, you endure. You know, you do your job. And I think what happened — I couldn’t predict it, but when they won, I was so happy for Ryan Day and those players that I just talked about, because of what they faced and all the stuff behind the scenes. It was like, it was almost like, I don’t know, maybe a release of all that pent up stuff. It just got the best of me.” 

Of course, that’s unfortunate news that Herbstreit had to deliver, and it’s something that’s been weighing on him as he’s put a brave face on throughout the football season. As a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve week-in and week-out, it’s understandable how the emotion of the situation got to the ESPN analyst.

Moving forward, the thoughts and prayers of the college football world will be with Kirk Herbstreit, his wife Ali and his family as a whole. Despite one unfortunate circumstance after another, the analyst persevered, and helped deliver one of the more exhilarating college football seasons of all time, but it certainly wasn’t easy.

— On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this article.