Kirk Herbstreit, who couldn’t hold back his emotions after Ohio State win, reveals his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer

Kirk Herbstreit wasn’t able to hold back his emotions after Ohio State won the national championship on Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with the longtime ESPN college football analyst brought to tears while he was live on the air.

A day later, Herbstreit revealed there was more happening in his life that previously had not been shared widely.

“I haven’t really talked about this publicly, but Alli, my wife, faced some stuff,” Herbstreit said to Pat McAfee on his ESPN show on Tuesday. “It’s been a tough year for me behind the scenes.

“My wife got diagnosed with breast cancer. You know, (my dog) Ben dies. It was just a lot of emotion. And when you do what we do, you endure. You do your job.

“And I think what happened, I couldn’t predict it, but when (the Buckeyes) won, I was so happy … because of what they faced and all the stuff behind the scenes. It was like almost, I don’t know, maybe a release of all that pent-up stuff, and it just got the best of me.

“I’m an emotional guy in general, and when things touch my heart, I’m not good at talking when that happens.”

Herbstreit played quarterback at Ohio State from 1989-1992. After the Buckeyes’ win Monday night in Atlanta, he embraced his son, Zak, an Ohio State tight end.

He called his on-camera emotional moment on ESPN “almost like a perfect storm.”

“My son had heart failure two years ago,” Herbstreit said to McAfee. “They were talking about a heart replacement there for a while, and he had to medically retire.

“And (head coach) Ryan Day – I think the gratitude I have for Ryan Day putting his arms around Zak and keeping him involved, you know, he’s almost like a GA with what he was doing. And Ryan insisted on putting his arms around him, (offensive coordinator) Chip Kelly, all these guys.

“So there was that side of it looking down and seeing him in his jersey after, you know, potentially facing replacing your heart to that.”

When ESPN anchor Scott Van Pelt, who was on the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, brought on Herbstreit and Chris Fowler, who were up in the broadcast booth, during the postgame show Monday, Herbstreit appeared to be trying to keep himself together.

“I’m a little emotional. I’m just fired up for these guys,” Herbstreit said. “You know, when I call these games, I’m incredibly objective. I love all these Ohio State teams. But this team, because what they went through, to get to this point, you’re just happy. You’re just happy for them.”

Herbstreit briefly went off camera and was back with a tissue. He dabbed at his eyes, visibly working to keep his composure.

“I talk to these players. I talk to these coaches. I know what they faced after that Michigan game. I know the pain, and I know that a lot of people thought, ‘To hell with this guy,’” Herbstreit said, referring to Day.

“I know what that did. That’s a real-life thing. To have to put that away … he just handled it, took the high road, didn’t say anything, went out and got his team ready to play four games, and they won it. And I think that’s why I’m emotional is what these guys faced.”

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