Kirk Herbstreit apologizes for choking up, thanks College GameDay crew for beautiful tribute to Ben

Kirk Herbstreit lost a member of his family this past week. His beloved dog, Ben, passed away following a battle with cancer, leading to an outpouring of love and support Herbstreit’s way.

Ben made several appearances on College GameDay and in the announcer’s booth during games that Herbstreit would call. Because of that, he was well-known across the college football landscape. On Saturday morning, College GameDay ran a special tribute to Ben – and Herbstreit, as you can imagine, had a pretty tough time.

Herbstreit took to social media to thanks fans for the “avalanche” of love and support for he and his family, while also apologizing for not being able to, in his word, “properly” lead the tribute as he was overcome with emotion.

I’m sorry I couldn’t properly lead to this beautiful tribute the @CollegeGameDay put together. Really wanted to thank all of you for the avalanche of love and support you’ve shown Ben. It gives me and my family such comfort knowing how he impacted so many peoples lives around the… pic.twitter.com/1ygVve4K6V

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) November 9, 2024

For those who missed it, here’s a look at the tribute video GameDay posted on Saturday as tribute to Ben:

Thank you again for all the outpouring of love for our Ben. I can’t tell you how much it means to me and my family.

He wasn’t just my best friend – he was America’s best friend ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WtpR2fHjjq

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) November 9, 2024

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.