College football on ESPN would not be the same without Kirk Herbstreit. He has a great knowledge of the game and his relationship with Lee Corso on the College GameDay set is entertaining. Herbstreit has been covering college football for ESPN since 1995 and footage of his first ever game have come to light.
The video began gaining traction and went viral on social media.
9/2/95, Texas at Hawaii. Not much here. Sideline reporter @KirkHerbstreit is brand new at ESPN, @MikePereira is your referee and Ricky Williams dominates his first college football game as a true freshman.
🏈🏈🏈 pic.twitter.com/s9edYb1Vgi
— Funhouse (@BackAftaThis) March 4, 2019
While Herbstreit was only a sideline reporter at the time, he showed his knowledge of the teams by talking about than Texas freshman running back Ricky Williams. The 1998 Heisman Trophy Winner had not yet played a collegiate football game when Herbstreit first started working with ESPN. Despite the game taking place almost 24 years ago, Herbstreit’s appearance has not changed much.
He might be better dressed and have a more clean-cut hairstyle, but Herbstreit has not aged too much since his first appearance on ESPN.
The former Ohio State quarterback took to Twitter to reminisce on his ESPN debut.
That’s crazy. My very first hit I ever did at ESPN in 1995! How lucky was I? First game ever at Hawaii and with future Heisman winner Ricky Williams playing his first game as a Longhorn! https://t.co/jEyqHs4upU
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) March 4, 2019
Herbstreit considered himself lucky that his first ever game was in Hawaii and contained a future Heisman Trophy winner in Williams. He is not the only current broadcaster in the video as Fox Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira was the referee for that game. That game was the start of his final season in college football as he became an NFL official in 1996.
Herbstreit was an accomplished high school quarterback, winning the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year in his senior year. He was named a starter and team captain in 1992 but did not play in the NFL. His debut for ESPN came only three years after he had finished playing college football.
Herbstreit joined the College GameDay set in 1996 after one year as a reporter for ESPN. He is the second longest tenured member on the set with Corso being a part of the show since its inception in 1987. A lot has changed in college football since Herbstreit’s first appearance in 1995, but he is still a mainstay for ESPN’s coverage of college football.
