ESPN commentator Herbstreit stands firm for women’s sports

Kirk Herbstreit has had enough.

The ESPN analyst is speaking up about the need to keep men out of women’s sports – and he doesn’t give care if you don’t like it.

Herbstreit said in an interview Tuesday that he’s “done giving any s—s at all” about reactions to his views. This, after he posted on X last week, “Of course not,” in response to the question “Do men belong in women’s sports?”

“I don’t care at all. Which is a good thing,” he said on OutKick’s Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich. “I think it’s good and healthy to get to that place compared to, ‘Oh gosh, I don’t want to get canceled. I don’t want to get people upset.’ I don’t give a s—. I’m just going to say certain things.”

Herbstreit, a former Ohio State University quarterback and longtime college football analyst for ESPN, called prohibiting men from competing in women’s sports “a no-brainer.” 

“I don’t have a daughter; I have four sons. If I had a daughter, I would probably be way more outspoken about this discussion on this topic. I just kind of made it sound like, ‘Why are you even asking this question,’ is the way I took it,” he said in response to the question asked on X. 

Herbstreit told Dakich he hasn’t received any pushback from ESPN, where he’s worked since 1996. He’s also an analyst for the NFL’s Thursday Night Football on Amazon, and is reportedly one of the country’s highest-paid sports commentators, making an estimated $16 million annually. 

Still, Herbstreit said there’s a double standard based on one’s views.  

“It’s almost like there are two different sets of rules, and if you have a view that’s a little more traditional, or I’m a Christian guy, it’s like there is a different set of rules for that viewpoint. It’s hard to just turn the other cheek time after time after time.” 

Herbstreit said he’s received “way more positive” feedback than negative from his comment, and that he’d been “biting his tongue” on the issue for the last three years. He’s speaking freely for now, and anticipates doing so even more in the future. 

Herbstreit noted fellow ESPN football commentator “Lee Corso used to give a speech, and one of the things he would say within that speech was, ‘Don’t ask me about race, religion or politics, or don’t talk publicly about race, religion or politics.’ And now I think that’s all anybody talks about is race, religion and politics. 

“I try to stay on the sidelines for a lot of that, but you can only take so much until you want to start to speak up a little bit and actually say what you think. When I retire or get in the position that you’re in, I’ll be able to say a lot more.”