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ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit appeared to hold back tears during the broadcast of No. 11 Alabama at No. 15 LSU on Saturday night.
This week has been full of emotion for the longtime "College GameDay" analyst. Herbstreit's dog, Ben, passed away earlier in the week after a battle with cancer. Ben was regularly featured by Herbstreit on social media and by ESPN, as he accompanied Herbstreit to games across the country.
Ben was certainly beloved by both Herbstreit and the college football world. The Rose Bowl even made Ben their Chief Happiness Officer. In the first quarter of Saturday's prime time SEC clash, ESPN on ABC shared videos of Ben in appreciation of the time he spent bringing joy to fans across the nation.
That's when Herbstreit chimed in with a message of his own. © Kirby Lee-Imagn Images "It was a tough week, obviously," Herbstreit said softly. "He’s been a big part of our lives, for our family.
You know, what was cool was I think America got to feel his love. ..
. He kind of became college football’s mascot. I think everybody kind of felt what he was about.
" "College GameDay" also featured a tribute to the Golden Retriever on Saturday morning. The heart-breaking video was narrated by Herbstreit himself. He was unable to lead into the video , succumbing to tears before the clip was played.
Fanbases do not exactly find common ground when it comes to the gridiron. But, according to Herbstreit, he believes the love for "college football's mascot" was embraced by all. Herbstreit closed with a thank you to all the people who reached out following his loss.
"I just want to say thank you to so many people," he said. "Just the outreach has been amazing. Family, friends, people on social media – thank you from the bottom of my heart for just embracing Ben and kind of understanding what his spirit was all about.
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