Kirk Herbstreit found himself at the center of a political storm after trying to stay out of the fray.
The trouble started on College GameDay, when Sen. Ted Cruz appeared on the set Sept. 12 to promote the Protect College Sports Act.
The reception was rough from the jump, with Cruz drawing boos for much of the segment. When the moment kept circulating into the following week, Herbstreit addressed it and made clear he wasn’t interested in turning the conversation into politics.
“I don’t really follow it. I don’t know anything about his political views,” he said.
“I don’t know what he’s for or against. I care about football, my family, my faith and my country.”
That answer only poured gas on the fire. Speaking to local reporters in Oxford before LSU-Ole Miss, Herbstreit tried to frame himself as someone who stays above the partisan mess.
“I don’t really get into politics, I’m an independent guy - right down the middle of the fairway,” Herbstreit said. “I’m for America, so whoever helps us as a country, I’m for.”
He also said he was caught off guard by the reaction to Cruz.
“Him being booed, I had to ask people, ‘What’s going on here?’”
College football fans on social media didn’t buy the explanation. One fan pushed back by saying, “Kirk has never heard of this guy he was tweeting about 10 years ago.”
Another was even more direct: “What do you mean you don’t follow it? Like what? Your in media you can’t pretend like you have no idea what’s going on in America”
On the Mississippi Today clip, @MOOOOrion wrote, “Imagine lying to make yourself look ignorant.”
@NebutronX asked, “How do you know who’s good for America, then?”
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wolken also questioned Herbstreit’s claim, pointing out his past activity online. “He has tweeted about politics and politicians, including Ted Cruz, so he’s just lying,” Wolken said.
“Kirk follows 844 people on X. That list is public.”
Jeff Pearlman took the criticism even further in a since-deleted TikTok video. “You’re Kirk Herbstreit, you’re college-educated, you have four kids,” he said.
“You don’t know anything about Ted Cruz, one of the most famous political figures in America?” Pearlman called the shrug “inexcusable just as an American.”
The clip kept spreading because Herbstreit is one of the most recognizable voices in the sport, still working alongside Lee Corso’s health watch and serving as the man on the desk when GameDay has to move quickly. That visibility is exactly why his comments landed so hard.
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