Self-described ‘independent guy’ Kirk Herbstreit recently made a surprise appearance at a GOP fundraiser, not in the football announcer’s hotly contested home state of Ohio, but in the Republican stronghold of Alabama.
As recently revealed by David Covucci in his ‘FOIAball’ newsletter, the ESPN college football analyst and Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football announcer spoke at an October 21 dinner sponsored by the Business Council of Alabama’s political action committee, Progress PAC.
That PAC, which has historically given far more to Republican candidates than Democrats, donated $155,000 to GOP senator and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville’s gubernatorial campaign the following day, according to public records.
And according to the Business Council of Alabama website, Herbstreit’s appearance at the exclusive Ross Bridge Resort cost attendees between $5,000 and a $50,000-package that included an exclusive roundtable with the former Ohio State quarterback. The council is a strong supporter of Tuberville, and recently launched a ‘Coach Means Business’ initiative to help him relocate from Capitol Hill to the statehouse in Montgomery.
The Daily Mail has sought comment from Herbstreit’s agent, as well as spokespeople for ESPN and Amazon Prime.
Herbstreit’s personal politics had been a non-issue for much of his television career, which began when he replaced Craig James on ESPN’s College GameDay in the mid-1990s. But following that program’s recent interview with Republican senator Ted Cruz, ESPN’s professed desire to avoid politics has come under the microscope.
Self-described ‘independent guy’ Kirk Herbstreit recently made a surprise appearance at a GOP fundraiser, not in his hotly contested home state of Ohio, but in solid-red Alabama
Herbstreit’s appearance at the exclusive Ross Bridge Resort (pictured) cost attendees between $5,000 and a $50,000-package that included an exclusive roundtable with the ESPN star
The group sponsoring the dinner donated $144,000 to Tuberville’s campaign the next day
Speaking with ESPN’s Rece Davis, Cruz made his plea for the Donald Trump-supported Protect College Sports proposal, which would curtail compensation and transfer opportunities for NCAA athletes, while providing a coveted antitrust exemption to schools and conferences.
But ESPN is not an impartial third party in the debate over Cruz’s proposal. The network has the media contract for the Southeastern Conference (SEC), a college heavyweight that helps ESPN/ABC compete with Fox and CBS on Saturdays.
College GameDay analyst and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban as well as network chairman Jimmy Pitaro have pushed the bill with Trump’s White House and other Washington leaders. Unsurprisingly, Tuberville voted ‘Yes’ on the Protect College Sports act, which passed through the Senate in September and still awaits House approval.
Despite ESPN’s support for the proposal, many college athletes and their fellow students have opposed it, leading some to boo Cruz during his live appearance at UT before the Longhorns’ game with the Buckeyes on September 12.
In a following segment, Herbstreit appeared to rush to Cruz’s defense while insisting that he, himself, was an independent.
‘I’ve never seen a guy booed that long and be able to just power through that,’ Herbstreit said. ‘I didn’t know if he couldn’t hear what I could hear. I think he was booed pretty much the entire time he spoke.’
He added: ‘I didn’t really understand it… I don’t really get into politics. I’m kind of an independent guy right down the middle of the fairway; I’m for America.
‘Whoever helps us as a country, I’m for, whether it’s someone on the left or right, so I don’t really follow it. I don’t know anything about his political views.
‘I don’t know what he’s for or against. I care about football, my family, my faith and my country. Those are things that I love.
‘I don’t really pick sides, and I was surprised. I didn’t know what his deal was, so him being booed, I had to ask people like, ‘What’s going on here?’
Former NBA guard and MLB second baseman Danny Ainge talks with ESPN’s Kirk Hersteit and the announcer’s dog before a recent Utah Jazz-New Orleans Pelicans game in Salt Lake City
Tuberville, a strong supporter of Trump’s, now hopes to become Alabama’s next governor
Pro Football Talk’s Chris Simms took a much different perspective.
The former NFL quarterback and son of New York Giants legend, Phil Simms, Chris first objected to lawmakers’ involvement in college’s anti-trust issues.
‘First off, it’s stupid they’re even involved,’ Simms told co-host Mike Florio. ‘We got so many issues in this country, in this world. It’s embarrassing.’
From there, Simms argued that the bill would hurt college players just as the sport is at an all-time high: ‘More people watch college football last year than ever before; it made more money than ever before.’
To Simms, ESPN the interview was self serving and disingenuous because, as he argued, the network has an interest in rules that protect the SEC’s position atop the college football pyramid. ESPN has aired SEC football games for three decades and the two entities are locked in their current media deal through the 2033-34 season.
‘Let’s call this what this is this: “Save the ESPN and the SEC Contract Act.”‘
Despite Alabama’s strong support for Republican candidates in recent elections, Tuberville remains locked in a tight race with Democratic candidate Doug Jones, who trailed by only a few points in a recent survey by Blueprint Polling.
