“I Never Want to Hear Kirk Herbstreit”: ESPN Under Fire for Promoting Politics on Popular Show by Pat McAfee & Others

ESPN’s College GameDay has become a stage for political discussion rather than just sports. Nick Saban and Pat McAfee used the platform to urge Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act. Last year, McAfee also had President Trump on his daily show for a Veterans Day special. He later joined Trump at the Patriots game, where the two were seated together. Sports commentator Kirk Herbstreit also made it clear that he supports McAfee’s appearances with President Trump. All of this has raised major red flags among critics.

“I never want to hear Kirk Herbstreit or any of them ever ever again say that we’re just, you know, we’re just up here saying what’s on our minds,” Sean Keeley said on Awful Announcing. “We’re not trying to influence anything. I mean, we’re just, you know, a bunch of humble college football fans. This is so crazy. I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there who are like, whatever, this is not a big deal. But like, it is so crazy that a segment of ESPN’s college football show was dedicated to promoting a congressional bill that this bill needs to be passed.”

Keeley is criticizing ESPN for mixing college football coverage with political campaigning using their star hosts’ popular shows. He believes College GameDay has a huge audience and should not be used to push a political cause, regardless of whether someone agrees with the Protect College Sports Act.

With this, Keeley’s main point is that McAfee and others appeared to use the show’s large platform to influence public opinion, and help move the legislation forward. He sees that as an ethical problem for a sports program, especially because the segment was connected to people involved in political action efforts.

“It’s so far out of the bounds of ethical. I don’t know, it’s not journalism,” Keeley added.

On September 5, 2026, ESPN’s College GameDay was in Baton Rouge before LSU played Clemson in the season opener. Rece Davis hosted the show, with Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, and Nick Saban joining him.

The discussion started off with Lane Kiffin’s move to take in NFL players Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright into the team. But then the discussion slowly became political as there was a direct call for Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act, which had been waiting for lawmakers to take action for several weeks.

First, Nick Saban stepped in and backed the entire scene.

“I’m a big proponent of the Protect College Sports Act,” Saban said. “I think it puts some guardrails and gives us an opportunity for leadership that can implement some rules that will control transferring, five years of eligibility, a little bit of control, a cap in terms of how much players can make, which is still a significant amount, which I’m all for.”

Saban was not alone in supporting the bill, as Pat McAfee also called on Congress to approve it.

“I appreciate utilizing your stature as a human to sign up to get into the politics world, which is an absolute nightmare from my understanding, but it’s really our only option at this point,” McAfee said.

The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 is a bipartisan bill meant to bring some order to college sports. Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell agreed on the legislation on May 27, 2026.

The bill is to set ground rules for how college sports operate while allowing athletes to earn money through NIL and revenue sharing. It would tighten transfer and eligibility rules and control recruiting and tampering.

The bill cleared the Senate Commerce Committee by a 19-9 vote in June, but it did not get a full vote in the Senate before lawmakers left for the August recess. So, the bill is still waiting for the Senate to consider it.

It’s not like ESPN has never addressed political or social issues before. During the first College GameDay broadcast of the 2020 season on September 5, the show was broadcast remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic and featured a discussion about racial inequality and the experiences of Black Americans.

Kirk Herbstreit became emotional while talking about the issue and encouraged people to listen, understand what others were going through, and take action.

So, it’s not like the argument about the bill is wrong, but turning a sports program into a political one is what didn’t sit well with Keeley and others. And ESPN used its large audience to publicly support and encourage Congress to pass a proposed federal law about college sports.

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