ESPN Analyst Kirk Herbstreit Would Be 'Shocked' If Football Is Played In 2020
BOSTON (CBS) -- Kirk Herbstreit is a football lifer. The sport has been a part of his life since his formative years.
Yet, in the midst of an unprecedented national and global health crisis, even he is prepared for an autumn without football.
"I'll be shocked if we have NFL football this fall, if we have college football," Herbstreit said on ESPN Radio, according to TMZ. "I'll be so surprised if that happens."
For now, the NFL is going forth as scheduled, with the draft coming in late April (disagreements with that scheduling are not welcome at NFL headquarters). For now, the league is still optimistic that the season can be played in its entirety or close to it. NFL coaches and executives, however, are privately expressing much more pessimism regarding that possibility.
Clearly, Herbstreit -- who's been ESPN's top college analyst for years -- is thinking along the same lines as those coaches and execs.
"Just because from what I understand, people that I listen to, you're 12 to 18 months from a [coronavirus] vaccine. I don't know how you let these guys go into locker rooms and let stadiums be filled up and how you can play ball. I just don't know how you can do it with the optics of it," Herbstreit said, per TMZ. "Next thing you know you got a locker room full of guys that are sick. And that's on your watch? I wouldn't want to have that.