Okay, so I was trying to figure out why Kirk Herbstreit didn’t play in the NFL, and let me tell you, it was a bit of a journey. I started by digging into his background, you know, just to get a feel for the guy.
First off, I checked out his college football days. Turns out, he was a pretty big deal at Ohio State. He was a quarterback, and not just any quarterback – he was the starting quarterback and captain of the team. I watched some old game footage, and the guy had skills. He could throw, he could lead, he had that “it” factor you look for in a player.
- Well, I started looking into any potential reasons why he might not have gone pro. Maybe there were injuries I didn’t know about? I went through news articles from that time, trying to see if anything major happened during his college years.
- No major injuries popped up, so that wasn’t it. He seemed to have a healthy career at Ohio State.
- Next, I thought, maybe it was the competition? Maybe the NFL scouts just didn’t see him as a top pick? I started reading old scouting reports and draft analyses from back then. It was a deep dive into the football world of the early ’90s.
So what happened? Why no NFL?
From what I could gather, it seems like he was a solid college player, but maybe not considered elite by NFL standards. The scouting reports highlighted his leadership and intelligence, but there were some doubts about his arm strength and overall athleticism compared to other quarterbacks in his draft class.
Then I started thinking about his career path. He went into broadcasting pretty quickly after college. It made me wonder, did he choose that path, or was it a fallback option? I dug into his early broadcasting gigs, and it seemed like he found his calling there. He was good, really good.
I watched some of his early work on ESPN, and you could see the passion and knowledge he had for the game. It was like he was meant to be an analyst. Then I stumbled upon this one tidbit that really stuck with me – he called himself a “college football junkie.” That’s when it clicked.
Maybe the NFL wasn’t his dream. Maybe he loved college football so much that he wanted to stay connected to it, even if it wasn’t as a player. And honestly, he’s made a huge impact in the college football world as an analyst. He’s become the voice of the sport for a lot of people, myself included. The recent celebration of his dog Ben Herbstreit was all over the broadcasts. It’s also touching to see Kirk’s journey, starting the day in Eugene for ESPN’s College GameDay show and then covering Ohio State vs. Oregon game.
So, in the end, it’s not really about why he didn’t make it to the NFL. It’s more about how he found his true calling and made a name for himself in the world of college football. And you know what? I think that’s a pretty great story in itself.
