Over the past 30 years, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit has become a part of every football fan's life as one of the longest tenured hosts of ESPN College GameDay. Herbstreit has become one of the faces of the sport, one of the faces of ESPN, and an example of how to have success in broadcasting. The beloved host, however, has gone out of his way to single out some of his colleagues for how they go about covering sports.
Kirk Herbstreit has done whatever he can throughout his career to ensure that no one can claim he was biased against their team. When the College GameDay crew makes their weekly picks, Herbstreit removes himself for any games he's covering this way no one can claim he's rooting for his pick. While Herbstreit played for Ohio State, the Buckeyes fanbase constantly calls him out for "throwing away his Ohio State fandom".
While Kirk Herbstreit isn't biased while covering the games, he feels that some of his teammates aren't following the right path. Kirk Herbstreit appeared on Net Positive with John Crist, where he declared that objectivity in sports media isn't dead, but with certain personalities, it's a part of who they are and what they do.
"If you’re a personality like a Bill Simmons or Pat McAfee or like a Stephen A. Smith, part of their schtick is kind of that. Even on [College] Gameday, Pat is all about West Virginia. He’s always talking. I would never do that about Ohio State. Ever. That’s why a lot of Ohio State fans probably don’t care for me, because I treat them like every other team."Kirk Herbstreit
Seeing Kirk Herbstreit single out two of his ESPN teammates in Pat McAfee and Stephen A Smith, is surprising considering he's not confrontational. After calling out McAfee and Stephen A Smith, Herbstreit put another one of his ESPN colleagues on blast, bringing up SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan's Georgia fandom.
"I don’t think you can cheer when you do games on a national level, guys that are in a studio show nationally, like when you watch SportsCenter and Elle Duncan is sitting there cheering for Georgia openly. I’m not a fan of that personally, like it hurts your credibility when that team is playing other teams. And then fans are looking at you like, you know"Kirk Herbstreit
After getting singled out by Kirk Herbstreit, Elle Duncan took to Twitter/X to defend herself.
Didn’t have this on my bingo card for today but my fandom doesn’t impact in any way what or how we talk about teams on air. Ever. I…JUST..BARK?? Also **whispers** I’m not the only one. So why I get singled out?
— Elle Duncan (@elleduncanESPN) July 4, 2025
For Kirk Herbstreit to go out of his way and call out three of his current teammates at ESPN, the issue has to be one that bothers him a ton, as he's never malicious. While his way of expressing his point may not have been the best way, Herbstreit is right that it turns a ton of fans away when the broadcaster is clearly pulling for the other team. Most fans likely don't care either way but, the crowd that would be upset about a fan in the booth would be far more bothered than if no fandom was shown.
In the case of Elle Duncan, she likely only saw the quote where she was put on blast as Kirk Herbstreit called out two of his coworkers as well. In her case, it is much different when someone is on a show like SportsCenter comparing games and a bit more acceptable to outwardly talk about your team as the opposing fanbase isn't tuned into a broadcast to hear analysis about the game just to feel as if the broadcast is rooting against them.
This offseason has been filled with drama surrounding College GameDay, with this storyline and the story of Pat McAfee's war with behind the scenes staff members on the show, which makes it an interesting season to follow the show.