Kirk Herbstreit - Out of the Pocket: Football, Fatherhood, and College GameDay Saturdays

Kirk Herbstreit with Gene Wojciechowski

Out of the Pocket

Football, Fatherhood, and College GameDay Saturdays

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To all the football dads and moms, sons and daughtersand to all the journeys youll go on together. May the spirals be tight, the hugs be long, and the highs outnumber the lows.

How do you explain a miracle? Two of them, to be exact.

How do you not want to call the doctor who caused your wife to burst into tears years earlier when he said with clinical coldness, You know, your twins are never going to play football.

How do you keep your composure on national television when all you really want to do is hug your firstborns?

January 13, 2020 Mercedes Benz Superdome, New Orleans Undefeated and No. 1ranked LSU versus undefeated and No. 3ranked Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship. And there on the field, with their last name stitched on the backs of their No. 86 and No. 37 jerseys, were Tye and Jake Herbstreitthe twins who, according to that doctor, were never going to play football.

How do you explain a miracle? You cant. One day my twin sons were clinging to life as preemies, born nearly three months before their due date. Their hearts would stop. Their tiny lungs couldnt provide enough oxygen. They each weighed slightly more than a quart of milk.

Not a daynot one single daypasses without my thinking about when they were born in the summer of 2000. We were thankful and fearful at the same time. If you could have seen us all at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, that day: me; my wife, Allison; my mom; my dad; my sister; Allisons mom; a few of our closest friendsall there praying, hoping, wishing that the twins would make it to the next day, and the day after that, and the days after that. We thought in twenty-four-hour segments. Just get through these twenty-four hours and well worry about the next twenty-four later.

Had you been there in 2000, youd know why I lingered on the Superdome field a few minutes longer than usual before heading up to the broadcast booth for the national championship game in 2020. I had some mother hen in me, and always will. Im the guy who always knew that they had an algebra test on Tuesday, that their science project was due on Thursday. I was the guy at their high school games, and if I couldnt be there, I was the guy livestreaming on my phone or getting the play-by-play from Alli. I was seated in the front row for their entire lives. I had held them as newborns literally in the palm of my hand, and now they were dressed for a national championship game as college freshmen. It didnt seem possible. Where did those nineteen years go?

So, yes, I looked for my twins that night at the Superdome. I always went down to the field during pregame warm-ups. It was a chance to see the field conditions, to gather a few last bits of information for the broadcast, to wish the coaches well, to watch the kickers, to gauge the confidence level of each team as kickoff neared.

But this time I also searched out Tye, a reserve wide receiver, and Jake, a reserve defensive back, on the field during drills. I saw Tye first and we hugged. As we did, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney walked over.

Give me your phone, Kirk, he said.

I tried to politely resistI mean, Dabo was about to face the No. 1ranked team in the country and its Heisman Trophywinning quarterback, Joe Burrow. Not much was at stakeonly a national championship. He had more important things to do.

Nah, give me your phone, he said. Now get in thereget in there nice and close.

Dabo aimed the phone camera and clicked away like a wedding photographer.

Okay, thats a good one, he said. Cmon, one more. Tye, lets see you smile.

Only Dabo, man

I smile at those memories. I let my mind wander back to those harrowing days at the hospital, and then to the aftermath of that national championship game between Clemson and LSU. During the three-plus hours of the broadcast, I was all business in the ABC booth with Chris Fowler. Thats my job. I owed it to the viewers of the game, to the fans of both teams to provide analysis and opinion that was the result of my video study, my interviews, my phone calls, my research help from Chris Fallica, my years of experience, my own instincts.

But after the game was done, after LSU had beaten Clemson, 4225, after I was off the air, then it was about family. My family.

If you think about where they started and where they are now, my twins are miracles. I carry with me a gratitude toward all those who helped make that moment on the field possible: doctors, nurses, Allison, my family, her family, friends, colleagues, coachesbut most of all, two tough dudes named Tye and Jake.

They each reached a national championship game. They each have ACC championship rings. Imagine that. Im proud of their accomplishments, but mostly Im just a proud father. Of them. Of their younger brothers, Zak and Chase. And Im in awe of Alli, who was an absolute rock during each of those difficult, sometimes dangerous pregnancies and deliveries.

Nothing matters to me more than trying to be a good father. That isnt by accident. Instead, its by practice. It was almost self-taught, because my own father couldnt or wouldnt completely commit to being a full-time dad. He was just enough of a dad that I always wanted more of him. I vowed that would never be the case with my own kids. Not only would my support and love be unconditional, but it would be constant and dependable.

I have been described as a pretty boy. The Ken Doll. The former quarterback with the perfect TV job, the perfect smile, and the perfect life. As always, there is more to it than that.

My life is filled with imperfection and trauma. I was raised in an imperfect and broken family that triedand often failedto glue the pieces of their lives back together. I had an imperfect mom and dad who loved usand whom we loved backbut there were limits to what they could provide. I had an imperfect college football playing career. I had an imperfect plan for how to start my working career. And I hadand havemy own failures and shortcomings. I definitely dont have all the answers. In fact, Im still learning them.

I think constantly of my own dad and his struggles and journey. I think of our similarities and our differences.

Ken Doll? Ken Dolls dont pray that their newborn twins survive the night. Ken Dolls arent raised at times by an older sister still in high school. Ken Dolls dont wish their dad could have a do-over.

We are all a product of our imperfections. In my case, fatherhood and football remain at the core of who I am, and who I strive to be. My story is about overcoming what people saw in my life, and what they didnt. Its about perseverance.

Maybe thats why I never felt closer to my twins and my family than that night of the national championship in January 2020. That night we shared more than football. We shared a history of overcoming lifes obstacles.