Each NHL team’s most famous superfan
By Cody Rivera
Columbus Blue Jackets: Kirk Herbstreit
When you think of Kirk Herbstreit, you don’t think of hockey. You think of waking up on Saturday mornings, looking forward to spending the entire day in your underwear, sitting on the couch, and watching nothing but college football from morning until evening.
Most of the time, you start those glorious Saturday mornings off by listening to Herbstreit breaking down all of the great college football games of the day on ESPN’s College GameDay.
Whenever you need some insight on anything related to college football, you always turn to the great Kirk Herbstreit. He’s been doing college football for a long time.
But that doesn’t mean that his areas of expertise don’t expand beyond the gridiron. As a native of Ohio, Herbstreit is known for supporting a few of the teams in the state, including Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds and the NHL’s own Columbus Blue Jackets.
Herbstreit grew up in Centerville, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. Naturally, he attended Ohio State University and played quarterback for the Buckeyes, finally getting a chance to be the starter in his senior season. As a senior, he passed for 1,904 yards with four 200-plus yard games.
Ever since, Herbstreit has long been the face of ESPN’s college football coverage, and is a regular favorite for any college football fanatic who spends their Saturdays devouring the games. Herbstreit now resides in Tennessee with his wife and four sons.
As an Ohio native, as well as an alum of Ohio State, it makes perfect sense why Herbstreit would embrace the local Columbus Blue Jackets when they were founded in 2000. Unfortunately for Herbstreit, the Blue Jackets have not yet come anywhere close to winning a Stanley Cup.