We’re not even a full month into the 2026 season, but Kirk Herbstreit and ESPN’s “College GameDay” are already facing major criticism online.
During last week’s episode of “College GameDay,” ESPN had Rece Davis interview U.S. Senator Ted Cruz about the Protect College Sports Act. Some people, including Blake Toppmeyer of USA Today Sports, accused the network of pushing “political propaganda.”
Herbstreit, however, claims ESPN just wanted Cruz on the show to share some insight on the Protect College Sports Act.
“I’ve never seen a guy booed that long and be able to power through that. I think he was booed pretty much the entire time he spoke,” Herbstreit said. “… I don’t really follow it. I don’t know anything about his political views. I don’t know what he’s for or against. I care about football, my family, my faith and my country.”
Herbstreit then said he doesn’t consider himself a political person since he’s “right down the middle.” At least that’s what he told reporters on Friday.
“I don’t really get into politics, I’m an independent guy – right down the middle of the fairway. I’m for America, so whoever helps us as a country, I’m for.”
Is Herbstreit telling the truth?
Shortly after Herbstreit called himself an independent, he received a ton of backlash from the college football world.
“Fine. But Kirk has forgotten two things,” Dan Wolken of Yahoo Sports said. “He has tweeted about politics and politicians, including Ted Cruz, so he’s just lying. Kirk follows 844 people on X. That list is public. You can go look at it and judge for yourself whether he doesn’t follow politics.”
“Kirk pretending he knows nothin bout nothin here is hilarious. Just say it does you no good to debate politics or express an opinion. Say that ESPN doesn’t want you to or you’re uncomfortable doing it. All fine. But pretending to know nothing about Ted Cruz’s politics is absurd,” Kyle Tucker of 247Sports said.
“I don’t do politics is such a cop out,” one fan said. “You are a grown man and should be informed on the state of the country if you love America. You don’t have to be an activist but this fence sitting is cowardly and disingenuous. You know what you support and what do you don’t support.”
“He said he is independent, down the middle and then basically rattled off GOP talking points,” a second fan commented.
“You cannot have a sitting U.S. senator on to talk a hot button political issue and then say ‘but I don’t do politics.’ That is totally moronic,” another person wrote on X.
We’ll see if Herbstreit responds to his critics this Saturday on “College GameDay.”
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This story was originally published September 18, 2026 at 10:00 PM.
