Kirk Herbstreit Reveals Why He Cried After Ohio State Beat Notre Dame

During an appearance Tuesday on the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit revealed the reasons behind the tears he shed after Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the national championship. 

The immediate allegations were that Herbstreit, 55, can't truly be impartial, and the tears were over his alma mater winning the title. During an appearance on SportsCenter immediately after the game, Herbstreit was so overwhelmed with emotion that it required him to step away from the camera to grab a tissue. 

Herbstreit now says there was more going through his head than just his Buckeyes winning a game. 

"It was almost like a perfect storm for me," Herbstreit told McAfee, while noting that his son, Zak, was on the sideline working as a graduate assistant after his football career at Ohio State was cut short due to a heart ailment that nearly resulted in a heart transplant. 

"Ryan (Day) insisted on putting his arms around him, so there was that side of it looking down and seeing him in his jersey after potentially facing replacing your heart," the ESPN analyst continued. 

But there was more. 

"My wife got diagnosed with breast cancer and Ben ( Herbstreit's Golden Retriever) dies. It was just a lot of emotion and when you do what we do, you endure. You do your job," he added. 

And with the season concluding the way it did, Herbstreit just had to let it out on national TV. 

"I'm an emotional guy and when things touch my heart, I'm not good at talking," Herbie concluded.