Kirk Herbstreit Net Worth

Net Worth	$ 10,000,000
Real name	Kirk Edward Herbstreit
Source of Wealth	Color commentary and sports analytics for college football games
Profession	ESPN, ABC and Prime Video commentator and analyst on NFL, former college football player
Spouse/Partner	Married to Alison Butler
Date of Birth	Aug 19, 1969
Zodiac	Leo
Age	53
Gender	Male
Height	190 cm / 6 ft 2 inch
Nationality	American
Siblings	Sister Terri Holmes

Biography

Kirk Herbstreit is a color commentator, sports analyst, and former American football player. He provides color commentary on college football for ESPN’s “College GameDay.” He is the sports analyst for ABC’s Saturday Night Football and NFL games on Prime Video on Thursday nights.^[1]

Kirk is also a regular contributor to ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. He won five Sports Emmy Awards for his sports commentary work.

In college, Herbstreit played quarterback for the Ohio State football team and established himself as a star football player.

Herbstreit’s net worth is estimated at $10 million.

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Early life and football career beginnings

Kirk Herbstreit started playing football as early as high school. He attended Centerville High School in Centerville, Ohio, and played in the position of quarterback for the school football team, the Elks. In his senior year, he was voted the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year.

Besides football, Herbstreit’s other passions in high school were baseball and basketball.

In 1988, he started college at the Ohio State University and played for the Ohio State Buckeyes until 1993. Every year in his college football career, Herbstreit was the letterman.

In 1992, he was named the team co-captain alongside linebacker Steve Tovar. His father, Jim Herbstreit, had been the co-captain and later assistant coach at the Ohio State University.

This made Herbstreit and his father the second father-and-son team to have been made Ohio State captains (the first being James and Jeff Davidson in 1989, while Pepper and Dionte Johnson preceded them as the third father-son-duo in 2007).

The same year, Herbstreit was voted the team’s MVP and served as a starter. He set the record at Ohio State in 1992 for pass completions (28), throwing for 271 yards in a 13–13 tie. The record was broken by Troy Smith in 2006, who was also a Heisman Trophy holder.

Kirk Herbstreit graduated with a B.A. in Business Administration.

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Sports commentary and analytics career

Herbstreit didn’t choose to go to the NFL. Instead, he continued his career as a sports commentator and analyst.

He got a lead analyst position at ESPN’s College GameDay in 1996 and became a co-host alongside star commentators Rece Davis, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, and Lee Corso.

This engagement got him noticed and earned him the nomination for the 1997 Sports Emmy Award as television's top studio analyst. ^[2]

After that, he served as the color commentator for ESPN's Thursday night college football games from 1999 until 2006.

At the same time, Herbstreit has worked as the game analyst at ABC’s Saturday Night Football - a primetime college football game broadcast, since it started airing in 2006, sharing the booth with play-by-play commentator Chris Fowler.

The star commentator also served as a color commentator for ESPN's College Football Primetime. Apart from his TV engagements, he is a contributor to ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, SportsCenter, and Get Up. ^[2]

He also wrote a weekly column for The Sporting News named "Inside The Game With Kirk Herbstreit."

In 2007, Kirk was the panelist in the Who's Now series. He’s a contributor to 97.1 The Fan, a commercial radio sports station - an ESPN affiliate.

He was to take the place of Jon Gruden in ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage; however, ABC got the rights to cover the first two nights of the Draft, so Herbstreit joined the network’s coverage alongside his GameDay colleagues.

🏈 Read about the life, career, and net worth of AJ McCarron.

In 2020 and 2022, Herbstreit and Chris Fowler announced the first game of the Monday Night Football Kickoff Week doubleheader.

Herbstreit became the new color commentator for Thursday Night Football on Prime Video on March 23, 2022.

On the same day, Herbstreit signed a deal with Amazon as an NFL analyst.^[3]However, he also stated that he continued his contract with ESPN, and will carry on both duties simultaneously.

Kirk is famous for his matter-of-fact analysis and insightful comments. So far, he has won five Sports Emmy Awards: three for Outstanding Studio Analyst and two for Outstanding Event Analyst.

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Private life

Kirk Herbstreit married Alison Butler in 1998. They met at Ohio State University, where Alison was a cheerleader. Kirk and Alison have 4 sons: identical twins Jake and Tye (born 2000), Zak (born 2003), and Chase (born 2006).

Herbstreit’s sons followed their dad’s footsteps. Jake and Tye played football at Montgomery Bell Academy, then moved on to Clemson University. Chase plays for St. Xavier High School, while Zak joined the Ohio State football team.

The ESPN commentator also supports several charity organizations, including The Make-A-Wish Foundation Ultimate Sports Auction and the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.

🏉 Learn about the life and net worth of Channing Crowder.

Controversies

Herbstreit received backlash from Ohio State fans after he made comments that the football team feels disrespected being at No 4. in the College Football Playoff.^[4]

The criticism got so heated that Kirk stated he and his family were moving from Columbus, Ohio, to Nashville, Tennessee, because of the incessant and relentless criticism he received from Ohio State fans.

📌 Read about Herbstreit's fellow NFL analyst, former pro player Mark Sanchez.

Conclusion

Kirk Herbstreit is an ESPN commentator, analyst, and former football player. He is currently the co-host and analyst for ESPN's College GameDay and commentator for ABC’s Saturday Night Football and NFL games on Amazon Prime Video.

Herbstreit has won five Sports Emmy Awards for his sports commentary work. Before starting his broadcasting career, he played quarterback for the Ohio State football team.

Herbstreit’s net worth is estimated at $10 million.

References