Kirk Herbstreit takes exception with portrayal of his take on bowl opt-outs

Kirk Herbstreit believes his much-criticized take regarding bowl opt-outs was taken out of context. In an appearance on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take podcast, the ESPN analyst attempted to clarify what he meant.

“The conversation was with Desmond Howard, myself (David) Pollack and Rece (Davis),” Herbstreit said. “We were just kind of talking about the new world. We’re not hiding from it, it’s just our new reality. It’s only going to get worse if you’re a fan of watching these guys play. If you watch the whole thing, the one little line I put out, Rece came at me like, ‘Boy, that’s a sweeping statement to say players don’t love the game as much.’ And I said, ‘No, no. I said some of these players don’t.'”

Herbstreit said on air prior to the Rose Bowl that he doesn’t get the narrative of so-called meaningless bowl games. Trying to figure out the reason behind the growing trend of opt outs, he said that players in this era don’t “love the game” as much as in previous years.

He later apologized for his comments in a tweet, claiming that he did not mean for them to apply to all college football players.

Herbstreit went on to say he understands how the game is evolving. With new NIL laws, players are beginning to put themselves and their futures first. There is perhaps more at stake and less to gain from playing in bowl games than there was in the past.

“I don’t have my head in the sand,” Herbstreit said. “I’m not oblivious to the fact the game is changing. Caleb Williams came out yesterday and I read a quote saying, ‘I’m gonna go to the highest bidder.’ You have to understand the game is changing. Des and I were just talking about how when we played, guys would never think about opting out and how the team kind of overrode any individual thought. We were just asking, ‘Is it money that’s changed this?’ So the whole thing was that some players maybe don’t love the game as much as guys used to. It wasn’t that all players don’t love the game. But I think that’s what it became.”

Kirk Herbstreit then said his take on opt-outs came in part from observing his own kids and comparing their views to his own generation. He believes there is a lot more entertaining today than there used to be, and it has resulted in “brainwashed fans.”

“When I grew up, you didn’t have all this stuff,” he said. “You went out and played or you watched football. We were entertained by watching games. We all kind of loved the game and the idea that, ‘Wow, maybe one day I can be on TV playing.’ My kids, they’re brainwashed football fans. If it’s not Ohio State, they’re kind of into it but kind of not. They’re into their phones. They’re really into social media. I get it. My kids don’t have the same passion that I had. It doesn’t mean that they’re bad kids, it just means they’ve grown up differently.”

Ultimately, though, Herbstreit thinks if people had listened to his entire conversation, there wouldn’t have been as much outrage. Instead, he said, they took a sentence and ran with it.

“I think it really got twisted and misunderstood,” he said. “I don’t think that kids that opt out are bad kids. I don’t think they’re making a bad decision. They’re making their own decision. If you had listened to the entire eight minutes, you would have heard a very different conversation than some of the headlines that were grabbed to try to help people push their own agenda or narrative.”