ESPN star Kirk Herbstreit weighed in on the debate over transgender athletes playing women's sports last week when he was asked on social media, “Do men belong in women's sports?”
Herbstreit made his position clear: “Absolutely not.”
He explained in an interview on OutKick's “Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich” on Tuesday that he didn't give a shit what the reaction would be.
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Kirk Herbstreit (Cooper Neill/Getty Images/File)
“I don't care about any of this anymore. It's almost like there are two different sets of rules, and if you have a slightly more traditional view, or if I'm a Christian, it's like there's a different set of rules for that view,” he explained. “It's hard to turn the other cheek over and over again.”
“Yeah, I didn't really care and I don't care at all. Which is good, I think it's good and healthy to get to that point versus being like, 'Oh God, I don't want to get cancelled. I don't want people to get mad. ' I don't give a shit. I'm just going to say certain things. My problem is I have a temper, so if I get to that point, if the fuse is lit, I just let it go and then I just explode and say something. I have to be careful with that.”
Herbstreit said he has not received any negative reaction from ESPN.
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ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit is shown on the field before the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Dec. 31, 2022, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Michael Wade/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I think I've been biting my tongue on a lot of issues for three years. I sent out a tweet — I'm pretty quiet in the off-season — about something. It could have been about college football and I've gotten into the habit of not scrolling through the comments because it's obviously pretty bad. I happened to see someone say what he said. I think he said, 'Should men be able to play women's sports?' and I was like, I'm going to give a quick answer: 'Ridiculous question, of course not. '
“I didn't think too much about it, I didn't give a long answer, that was it. I didn't realize it would be so much more positive than negative. I'm sure people were upset by that. I think it's kind of obvious. I don't have a daughter; I have four sons. If I had a daughter, I would probably be a lot more outspoken about this discussion on this topic. I just took it as sounding like, 'Why are you asking me this question? '”
Kirk Herbstreit speaks with Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops in October 2022. (Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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“But yeah, Lee Corso used to give a speech, and one of the things he said in that speech was, 'Don't ask me about race or religion or politics, or don't talk publicly about race or religion or politics,' and now I think everyone talks about race or religion or politics. … I try to stay out of it for a long time, but you can only hold out for so long until you want to start talking a little bit and really say what you think. When I retire or I'm in the position that you're in, I'll be able to say a lot more.”
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