Kirk Herbstreit Talks Football, College GameDay, Lee Corso, Mental Health, Therapy - The Mental Game

Kirk Herbstreit intro welcome back into the mental game where this week's guest is sports broadcaster Kirk herb Street man I struggled I just could not deal with it and my dad was like yeah give it another spring and then I ended up going to see this doctor I'll never forget walking from my apartment looking around my shoulder the entire time wondering if anybody saw me yeah I was like 20 or 21 years old and I didn't want people to make fun of me I'm just be honest I didn't want people to think I was weak and in this episode Kirk opens up about his football Journey where at Ohio State he started to struggle with his mental health so without anyone knowing he began going to therapy with the Buckey's team psychiatrist that led him to having success on the field at quarterback for Ohio State but after college there was no dream going to the NFL but he found his dream job at college game day where now he has shared the desk for over 20 years with Lee Corso and the crew we talk about all of that and much much more in this episode but first I want to tell you about man therapy and guys I am talking to you because look we have to be comfortable with our emotions with being vulnerable and talking about our mental health and that's why I want you to go find some amazing tools and resources to help you with your mental health at mantherapy.org but now it is time for the latest episode here on the mental Game with Kirk herb Street [Music] n [Music] welcome back into the mental game as you can see I got a very special guest sitting next to me you know him from college game day Saturday Night Football and Thursday Night Football Kirk herb Street you got a big resume thanks for coming on the mental game glad to be here with you it was easy to get you to roll over because you're living in Cincinnati now right appreciate you coming in you just got a workout in with my boy Pat so feeling good to talk about mental health and everything absolutely yeah I want to go through you know your life story growing up in Ohio playing at Ohio State getting in to to broadcasting and you know you you've been a part of ESPN college game day for a long long time same with being in the booth calling games I can't wait to go through Meaning of Mental Health that Journey with you but the first thing I ask everyone here on the mental game is what does mental health mean to you and everyone has a unique answer because it's a very individual thing we all go through this journey differently maybe there's something that happened in our life that makes us take better care of it at a certain point but I'll ask you the same thing what is mental health mean to you well that's that's a uh kind of layered yeah uh question and answer because for me I you know you mentioned my book before we came on here my my parents divorced when I was about 8 years old and I think at that age to go through that and to be lifted from your neighborhood where all your buddies are and your school and your sports at eight years old and then to move to a new town especially I'm an introvert yeah uh naturally so I'm not the guy that's going to walk into a new school like hey everybody I'm very quiet um just just just naturally that way and so I was always aware and and in my family we had a lot of people that have dealt with various things um emotionally so I I think I always had an appreciation taking Sports aside just always have had an awareness to my own mental health others what they might be experiencing um I don't know I think it because I was exposed to it at such a young age it's just is always something I've thought about and and you and I again we're talking before we came on it's just amazing how far we've come at least in the Sports World of people being willing to talk about it um whereas before when I was coming up it was kind of like you either didn't talk about it yeah or you hid and talked about it to somebody but you were looked at as being very weak if especially in sports if you uh if you ever were concerned with uh with the potential of your mental health it was like toughen up get your ass back in there let's go yeah kind of thing but no man for me it's there's the sports side of mental health but then there's more of the real life aspect of uh especially now with K having four sons of my own yeah social media The Bullying that's done in social media what kids go through and trying to be liked or whatever they might be going through I don't know I I'm just a I'm very aware of it I'm constantly observing I'm a guy that if you me you and four people went out somewhere to dinner you wouldn't even know but I'm always observing everybody yeah and if there's somebody that's not involved in the conversation I get uncomfortable so I I I'll intentionally try to come up with a topic that'll bring that person in I just I'm always looking like if I host a party I can't just relax I have to always and again I go back to being young being introduced to the concern of of people's mental health that I think I just have a major awareness to it and I just try to be helpful you know in any way that I can I give you all the credit in the world for having that How Sports Helped Mental Health self-awareness at 8 years old 10 years old high school through college because I mean I can speak personally for myself I grew up in that era just like you did of rub dirt on it tough [ __ ] like just go play Hurt yeah you were weak if you ask for help um and so I think you mentioned also that you were an introvert which from the outside people would be surprised knowing that you've been on college game day for 25 years and uh you're one of the faces of college football but how much did Sports help you when you were struggling with your parents divorce when when they started to remarry when you you know had were moving different schools I mean you didn't have like this straight you know Narrow Path um how much did Sports help you through that yeah Sports and my friends my family is great I wasn't traumatized in any way it's just what I went through you know I moved moved from Trotwood and when I was young in the Dayton area to Centerville I didn't know anybody from Centerville lived there for about two years then my mom who I lived with got remarried to a guy then I moved to an area called Franklin which you know you know where Franklin is I lived there with my stepdad and my mom and my brother for a couple years and then they got a divorce and then I moved in with my dad in Cincinnati Wyoming uh in e8th grade and I lived there for about half a year then he got a divorce then I moved back to Centerville so it was just yeah it was just a lot of people coming at at a very kind of critical point in your life a lot of people kind of coming in and out of my lives I just I didn't have stability yeah and I think the one thing I had was Sports and whether it was participating in sports you know at recess or playing your teams that you played on and I was the typical kid spring it was baseball and the summer was baseball then football I was just constantly and then my friends my friends were like family to me and that was my stability no matter where I went so I was very blessed in that way to have have those things but um if I didn't have sports man I I don't know what I would have turned to I I I was very very lucky to have that I was very lucky to have enough skill in that area where you know how what I you know if you have if you're good at something um it allows you to all of a sudden go from that kid one knows to hey I don't what's your name hey come on you're on our team we'll pick you yeah yeah that kind of thing especially in middle school so that kind of helped me a lot but yeah man Sports had played a a mass and and if I wasn't playing sports I listen to Marty and Joe my entire life you know if I if I were in the car Marty and Joe was on if I were you know I I I listen to Marty and Joe to the point where you know I would listen for the fish's big boy play of the game like I was psychotic Marty and Joe basb guy just it was my life I listen to Sports Talk Radio like I didn't even know what I was doing at the time but Chris Collinsworth and Andy Ferman you know I would I was in the car my dad had 700 W on and then when I started to drive I had 700 W and I would just what little that I know is teaching me what I would eventually get into right but I was fascinated to just sit there and this is a different era back then you didn't have podcasts and all this it was just I was fascinated by listening to that and and absorbing it and between Marty and Joe and Chris and Andy Ferman that was really my life and uh and gave me my Escape away from a lot of that pain I was dealing with well I grew up listening to Marty and Joe radio in the garage where I'd be shooting hoops and you know I'm lucky enough and you I'm sure you've met Marty and become friends with him as well it's like it's crazy how this career can can get you in certain rooms and be able to become friends with guys you grew up listening Going to Therapy at Ohio State to uh you played at Centerville you're were a fivestar recruit get to go to Ohio State but there was a coaching change maybe not the offense that you thought you were going to play up there um and for you I think we talk about the stigma with mental health especially men's mental health this was 1990 is time and you without anyone knowing went and saw the team psychiatrist for the Buckey which was new it was a new thing well for you what gave you the courage to do that why did you go to him because that was a time where we didn't talk about this at all no way no way it was a new it was actually a new hire at Ohio State and when he was introduced to the team I didn't stand up and say hey I I just kind of like most guys were not even paying attention like what is this bull you know yeah and I just listened to what he had to say his name was bud fante and I listened to him and I was to the point like you said I was a five star could have gone to any school in the country I was my dad played at Ohio State he was a captain there I was definitely I was a brainwashed Ohio State kid I was going to Ohio State no matter who the coach was and John Cooper was announced the next day I I verbal to Ohio State because I just I was to that point my senior year I was ready to make an announcement so I went in expectations was I was going to start for four years win three Rose Bulls like the media not mine the media the expectation was that and I ran a triple option I was a wishbone triple option guy at Centerville and they ran a pro style seven-step drop old school West Coast offense and man I I struggled I just could not deal with it and I had a really hard time adapting to it I moved the defensive back I was covering kickoffs and then I circled back to quarterback um my last three years and I was just at the end of the road I was ready to quit I was ready to just there was no nil there was no transfer portal I was just ready to go play baseball and be done with football and my dad was like yeah give it another spring and then I ended up going to see this doctor and it took what I'm telling you the courage it took in 1999 91 to go into his office which was at Ohio stadium they gave him like a little Nook I'll never forget walking from my apartment looking around my shoulder the entire time wondering if anybody saw me and then knocking on his door and even then still kind of looking ain't that crazy to think that that that you that you're so afraid I was like 20 or 21 years old and I didn't want people to make fun of me I'm just to be honest I didn't want people to think I was weak because the way we were trained yeah but at least I had the courage to knock on his door and he opened the door and I walked in I really didn't know what to talk to him about he was incredible because he didn't know anything about me he wasn't judging me like if you talk to your parents sometimes they they they have an agenda they think they know what's best this guy was just kind of like he wanted to know about my life my he didn't want to talk about football he just so after the first hour with him I was like man that felt really good like I left I was like can I come back and then dude after that I I was there once a week for the rest of my career and um I really give him a lot of credit because I was Rock Bottom to the point I wanted to quit all the way to the point where by the time I was a senior I was Team MVP most V most inspirational player team captain all these things happened my last year and all it was all voted by my teammates so I wasn't an All-American I didn't win a Heisman you know the fact that a lot of these guys that in the job that I do usually accomplish that I was just a hardworking guy that came in with high expectations hit the bottom of the roster and got back up to the top and without him without him listening and talking to me and helping me I very doubtful I would have been able to do that my favorite thing about therapy and I waited until I was 28 at my rock bottom to finally go is that it's an unbiased person that just wants to help you you feel better and and be the best version of yourself cuz like you said there's not an agenda they're not telling you things that maybe your family or friends want to feed you that that maybe not they don't tell you what you need to hear sometimes they tell you what you want to hear yeah and so having that unbiased opinion can help you when Hitting Rock Bottom in College you're in that spot and you said the word Rock Bottom do you feel like that was your lowest when you were 19 20 years old at Ohio State and would you call it a depression did you ever have you know really dark deep thoughts I mean what was that Rock Bottom really like for you behind the scenes uh for me again going back to what I'd already been through from the time I was 8 years old and that windy road I already spoke about with divorce and moving here moving there moving there th those were tough times but again I was kind of naive and just young yeah and just this is my normal um but going my this may not make much sense I I didn't care about the NFL like my I grew up I'm telling you Ohio State football for me was my everything yep I my everything um and to be able to play for Ohio State at that time in my life was my everything and to try to go to a Rose Bowl and represent Ohio state was it was I could literally I if I accomplished that and died the next day I would have been good so to see that dream gone to see the the the embarrassment only because of the outside expectations yeah of what it was what it was uh I was supposed to do and every time you go home hey what's going going on why aren't you playing to deal with that was was embarrassing but not accomplishing my dream was more difficult for me so I was never suicidal I was just I lost all my confidence as a person uh not as an athlete just as as just a walking around just not looking in the mirror head down because think about it your whole life you thought about this is your goal this is your dream and that dream's now shattered uh that's where I was so it was more of this is all I wanted to do in my life now what what now you know I and I'm not going to get this so that's that's where I that's the state of mind I was in I wasn't going to jump off a bridge or anything like that I was more of just I'm a failure you know and it and it affected me in every aspect of my life not Not Just Sports well it's incredible again that you had the self-awareness to seek out help and that was 2 three years of therapy while you're at Ohio State then you get a start you know you're a How Therapy Can Help You senior did you guys went to the rosebowl your senior year no we lost to Michigan my tied Michigan my senior year and that prevented us from going to the Ros bow gotcha but you got to you got to the point that you had dreamed of of being the starting quarterback at Ohio I got to taste it and so that I have to imagine going full circle from when you first started knocking on that door and looked over your shoulder and were kind of embarrassed about going or worried if people knew it showed that therapy works yeah oh for sure I my my thing with therapy would be to first of all try to align yourself with a therapist that you kind of kind of gets you yeah you know I think not to say that all therapists are great or they're not great I'm just saying I don't know how many people you went to but man I I I just kind of got lucky with the guy that I saw and you know I've thought about other times you know throughout my life about you know seeking that out and the first thing I think about is man I want to make sure I align like they understand me not just like okay you know they're sting listen here K Adams I had her on and she described it like kind of like dating of uh yeah you got to mix and match sometimes you'll have a match sometimes you won't but like you said it's got to be somebody that understands you and wants to did you find your was it the first first person second person but that's one of the biggest struggles is finding the right therapist and it's not that there may be a bad therapist look there's people that do bad jobs in every profession broadcast it's just whether they fit with you right and so it's that you know or maybe the wrong medication that deters people from wanting to get help again and so you know you and I are lucky that either our first or second try we found somebody that worked for us but yeah Kay was telling me look I it's kind of like dating you got to go on a first date second date if you don't match go on to the next one and you'll find your match yeah yeah Goodwill Hunting uh you know that was kind of fun to watch that Matt Damon with Robin Williams and how they initially there was no chance and then eventually Matt Damon came around but yeah I I if first of all it takes even today I still think it takes courage for people to admit that they you know what I think I'm going to do this but if you ever do decide to go that route number one congratulations on having uh the conviction to be able to do that and number two like where we just said I I think it would be important if you try it and this person doesn't really get you yeah you're like I tried it it's terrible I'm telling you you you next thing if you give it another try you find that right therapist it's like finding becomes a massive Advocate to your your existence and what you're doing yeah and you know you went through a lot of trauma at a young age you know High School Mental Health dealing with the divorce just trying to figure out find yourself at Ohio State we didn't talk about it then I told you we we mentioned you just got done working out with my boy Pat coin you know he trains you know burrow hubard all these guys here in Cincinnati when we were in high school we were freshmen together and I had my first suicidal thought and he was the only kid that was there for me now he didn't ask what's going on what are you doing he just knew and he was there to listen talk because I was too scared to go to therapy um so old were you when that happened 14 so we were freshman in high school and I what was going on with you so I've started to tell this story publicly because I I tore the country now and speak at schools and colleges and I had sent a picture to someone they sent it to the whole school oh no and it was at a freshman football game L and Elder here in Cincinnati I'll never forget going home that night and thinking I'm alone I'm embarrassed I'm never going to be able to get over this the next two to three months at school horrific made fun of I mean it's like three months in the freshman year and I had Pat three months in the freshman year yeah and I had Pat I you know I learned later on that the reason this is years later the reason why he was there for me in that moment is because he went through something similar and he like saw himself in me wow and so we didn't talk about depression anxiety therapy he was just the only one that sat with me at lunch or invited me to go to the basketball game and so what's cool about that I tell that story and obviously you you know train with him at Black Sheep performance here but we both have these Big Dreams and then like 12 years later I'm doing a story on him while he's training Sam and Joe and all those guys so the people that are around you with you that can help you through those moments I tell kids when I'm at school is like look you lose touch with a lot of people same thing with college with the people that are there for you and and help you through those moments they will be there to support you as long as they can and Pat's been one of those guys for me that's great what what I'm Advice for Parents When Kids Struggle just curious not to turn this on you I'm curious um because I think bullying has always been a problem but I think especially now you know with with phones and and social media what's your going through what you went through that's pretty pretty difficult what would you tell a parent or tell somebody that has a son or a daughter that's 13 14 at those kind of those critical years they're going through what maybe not exactly what you went through but some form of bullying yeah what what how do you what's the answer I speaking to the parent and kid first off is nothing is the end of the world feelings are temporary like this will pass but talking about look things on the internet last forever um I didn't have Snapchat Tik Tok this was a text message like things are way different now when I talk with professionals who work in suicide prevention and mental health this is one of the top if not the top reasons teens high schoolers take their own life because they think this embarrassing photo is going to be ruin their life forever some a lot of times it's a scam at somebody on Snapchat says hey send me 300 bucks or I'm going to send this to your school or parent and so knowing it's not the end of the world but also having that awareness having the conversation with your kids this is the thing that's different than you and I when we grow up the earlier you start that line of communication and you don't have to talk about everything at 8 10 years old but the sooner you start talking I can relate yeah the sooner I mean I'm sure your own experience changed the way that you raised your own boys the sooner you start that line of communication the more open the more trusting the better it can be for you and your kids that's what I tell my parent or tell parents when they ask me because I didn't tell my mom and dad until I was suicidal at 28 you know on a bridge in downtown Cincinnati when I'm supposed to be living the dream having the time of my life um so yeah just knowing that it's not the end of the world that's what I stress the most I think yeah I love that I I love that it's temporary yeah because it does feel when you're in the midst of like it's almost like a a tidal wave or a storm and it doesn't seem like it's ever going to go away but the fact if you can you can tell the the whoever is going through that that it is temporary and then the second thing is I love cuz I I've tried to do that with four Sons they're now you know 23 and 21 and 17 but I've I've tried to have a relationship with them where we talk about not just a good in life I'm talking about when they were four five six seven eight you can't start it when they're going through a problem yeah you need to start that not because you're thinking one day they're going to have a problem it's just I they think it's very healthy and very different Oh Yeah from my generation to have open dialogue talk talk about things because if you do it when they're six and seven and eight and nine when they get to those uncomfortable years of 15 16 17 18 they they know that you're on their side they know they're comfortable in talking to you so I think those two things are really good having that trying to build that relationship where there's open dialogue through the by the way it's okay to talk about the bad stuff too you know when they're young I don't want to I always tell my kids how's school what's going on oh it's good I go no I don't want to hear just the good like right tell me about some of the bad stuff you know I I want to know everything you know because that's why I'm here to try to now I'm talking about when they were like in first second and third grade so I'd like to think I have that relationship you know with my kids but I think that's great advice for for people out there well it's super important and you had your own experience it makes you second guest or look back back at how you could have maybe helped yourself or now helped your kids I mean my Mom feels like so guilty and so does my dad because they had no idea cuz I hit it so well yeah but like you thank God I had the self-awareness of after 3 four months at 28 of being suicidal even though I'm on the sidelines of the Bangals are going to the Super Bowl living out this dream from the outside behind the camera I mean I was that was at 28 because you said you were talking about you were in ninth grade yeah so sorry so this is like I dealt with it in silence for 15 years oh so it just kept going kept going never went to it wasn't like it got put away yeah it got put away a little bit but I was you know High School College big partyer I was a full-blown alcoholic I've been sober now for 15 16 months so like thank you yeah just it took me until I hit that rock bottom of losing three family members you know in three months woman I thought I was going to marry super toxic relationship so that like it made it it built up eventually where it just got to a breaking point of I was suicidal every day for three months and finally you know had to check in somewhere and that changed my life because I just realized that there was other people like me kind of the stuff we were talking about before and that you can't like it works that's what's great when you start going to therapy or when you get sober like you realize you feel better and this stuff works it it incentivizes you to keep going kind of like what you're talking about at Ohio State yeah yeah also think what you're doing helps you yeah this is therapeutic now for me for yeah I think I think that's really just talking about other seeing that other people oh yeah totally go through a lot of the a lot of maybe not your exact uh set of example but a lot of people go through a lot of stuff and you just you know you just kind of talk the more you talk about it I think the more helpful that is for you for sure and like we talk about our job working in sports I mean there's challenges with that too Chasing Sports Broadcasting Dream and when you get out of Ohio State like you said the NFL wasn't really your thing you it was Ohio State and then figure it out yeah figure it out and you took a chance you know working at as a local radio station who maybe wanted Ohio State perspective from a former player instead of taking a comfy you know corporate job you take look people listening or watching that don't know you don't make anything when you start in sports or local TV um you took a job for like 12K and just wanted to talk about sports and you followed your heart it's funny is I didn't come up with any money I mean you heard my story about bouncing around and all that I didn't I didn't again I didn't care about money I didn't have it when I was growing up so I was never a kid that was like I'm going to make a lot of money I just I didn't I wasn't driven I wanted to be happy I wanted to find I love sports yeah so I had pharmaceutical when I I was a business major at Ohio State so when I didn't have the NFL and I graduated I was like okay I've got Worthington Industries I got all these pharmaceutical opportunities really good money that doesn't sound like a fun job right or I can do this local radio and make 12,000 and I took not having any idea it would lead to game day and Amazon and all this stuff but yeah sounded remember going back I listen to talk radio I was fascinated by listening to Andy Ferman and and Chris Collinsworth that they do this for a living and I got that opportunity I didn't care that I was making $122,000 I just thought after all those years of listening to talk radio now I can do that for myself and I ended up doing that for even when I got T ESPN a couple years later I think I did that for 15 or 16 years so I really enjoyed that that aspect well and then you get a chance to audition for for game day yeah and from College GameDay Audition Story my understanding it's a thought that you're no chance in hell going to get J they told me no they told me you're not going to get the job but it'd be good for you I was 26 I think holy cow and they said uh Craig James had just left so there was an opening and back then it was just Chris fower and Lee Corso Craig James that was college game day Craig James left to go to CBS work uh on the NFL so they had an opening and Craig was a superstar on the show when I when that opening was created and they basically told me hey come in you're young guy you've been at ESPN for one year the guy's name was mod dport he's like you're not going to get the job but it'll be a good experience for you just to go through I was like all right so yeah I showed up at the audition nervous met Lee Corso and Chris fer we did kind of a fake uh segment yeah and they just I guess they just wanted to see me if I could talk about you know they they did some uh you know highlights and we just talked about college football for maybe a six minute segment and I thought that was fun that was fun I was nervous I was terrified I'd never done anything like that in my life yeah not even locally now here I am doing it with Chris fer and and Lee Corso and I didn't hear from them for this is again this is way back this is 1996 95 96 I didn't hear from him not a a letter nothing not a call for four months I just figured W yeah it's over yeah I just moved on and then I got a call I was fishing actually in the upper peninsula and my roommate called me he said some guy named Mo Davenport uh call called he wants you to call him back and I was like what dor huh I almost forgot his name and I was so I called him and he they told me they were gonna hire me and I was just like what the hell was going on I couldn't I couldn't believe I was 26 and I was going to be hired on college game day it was wild college game day I grew up as a sports fan one of if not my favorite show and I'm sure for you the get the chance to sit in that seat do the audition I mean Chrisler and Lee Corso the fact that you've now got to work with them for the last 25 plus years it's just it's crazy to look back on that I'm sure for you how has college game day changed your life career just giving you the shot to be able to Live Your Dream but also experience something that's so unique in a show that is one of a kind it's I mean it's remember my dream about Ohio State football well what my passion is is college football you know and sports but college football for me and be able to go to bat Rouge or Gainesville or Eugene Oregon or wherever we are Norman Oklahoma I mean it was so cool and eye openening for me to see all these amazing campuses and these amazing venues and the different Traditions you know I'm going back when I first started it just looking around like oh my God my first game of an SEC game that I would saw in person was in nean stadium in Tennessee and it was Danny warle in the Florida Gator against pton Manning in the Tennessee Vs and it was pouring rain and it was Rocky Top as loud as you can imagine and I was just like it was just like shoot this in I know in Ohio State guy but man shoot it in my veins like the passion of this Stadium just looking around like this is me this is this is what I'm supposed to be doing and I just I to this day it never gets old like I I you know the show has changed a lot Chris fower now just calls the game with me on on Saturday ree Davis is there Desmond Howard is there Pat McAfee is there Nick Sabin is going to be there this year so Lee Corso is still there so I mean a lot of things have changed over the years but that show still setting up its stage on the site of that weekend of college football which for me is just like epic it just it's cool I this will be my 28th or nth year coming up and it just it feels like it's my first or second year so yeah it's cool to do something where you still after all these years almost almost three decades you still love doing it well I know when when game day came to Cincinnati a couple years ago that first time ever and it was their undefeated season they were ranked two in the country at the time that was a super super cool experience Corso puts on the headgear plays goes nuts I I want to touch on Lee because your friendship with Lee Corso is very very obvious when Lee Corso Special Friendship you watch college game day or you see your Instagram what has that relationship been like over the years since that audition and now being on game day together for almost three decades uh it's changed a lot I you know from that very first audition where I I sat next to him and I was nervous and he he he tried to calm me down and they hired me and I I show up you know that first season and he treated me as an equal you know I I I'll never forget how comfortable he basically put his arm around me and made me feel like it was just me and Chris and him and he was an analyst and I'm an analyst and we're going to talk about these games the show was only an hour back then but just how he made me feel where our relationship changed is when I don't know if you remember the Silly Sports Center commercials years ago that we used to do well game day used to do commercials like that we would go out to LA and my life changed from being single when I first was on the show to being married then having preey babies we had uh twins that were 2 lbss each they were born very early and as you're going through these life uh you know experiences you get in the back you know you're in LA and you're in a photo shoot and I knew Lee and Chris but inevitably Lee and I would always get in the same car and he was he was a father of four kids he has three sons and a daughter and we would inevitably get into conversations because he's he's a guy that wants he ask you how you doing now how you really doing like a coach digg deep and I I would open up and I would talk to him and he would listen that was the key cuz my dad didn't listen real well he would listen and then he would listen and listen and then he would give me a thought or two about almost like wisdom that he was giving me so that would happen one time and then another time then another time then another time then it became like something I looked forward to and I needed yeah so I in my career soon as I my contract would run out and maybe go here maybe go there I'd go not my agent not my parent parents to my wife I'd go to Lee what do you think about this you know whatever he said I would listen to and that became who I'd get into a situation with my wife and we might move or we might I would go to him what do you think of this so I guess like another father figure in my life and then he had a stroke about 12 or 13 years ago and he lost his ability to speak and use the right side of his body and he's worked real hard to get it back well then I found myself kind of like full circle I try to be what he was to me I try to help him whenever I can however I can um just because number one that's what a friend should do right but number two is he gets you know he's into his late 70s into his 80s I think a lot of people watch him and they see him tripping on his words and they think oh that son of a [ __ ] he's so old why is he still there and I'm like if you only knew his cognitive mind is as sharp as ever he just he struggles sometimes getting his words out because of that stroke so whatever I can do when he gets tripped up I try to just be there just as a little Bridge or you know just try to do it as subtly as I can and so yeah we' we've kind of we've uh we've gone from just one extreme where I'm just looking up at him like what do I do right to you know becoming his equal I guess for many years and now just trying to help him in any way I can I think that is one of the most powerful things I watch where I can tell watching as a sports fan he's still there like he it's still the same leag Corso but like you said some times he does trip up on Words maybe he's not in as many segments or picks as normal or as he was for so many years but watching you kind of I don't know how to describe it I don't want to say training wheels but like you're his support system throughout the show and it is one of the most powerful things on TV I appreciate it yeah I mean he's again I for my generation I talk to my kids about kind of respect yeah and my generation I feel like we looked at the people before it's not that they did everything per perfectly but they went through a lot and so I looked at them as an advocate I I I've always looked at people that have gone through before me as someone to learn from and especially when they're willing to teach you know give you time and I I feel like I'm worried about my kids generation I don't know if they look at at the older generation that came before them uh with the same kind of respect and I hope that I hope that they will because I I I think you can learn a lot just by listening paying attention and asking questions to people that have gone before you you mentioned you know Lee going through that stroke you've had um Kirk's Health Scares a scare of your own here a couple years ago with blood clots how did that change your perspective and you know your son last year dealing with his own heart issue how did that change your perspective as a father and taking care of yourself and just having perspective on life when when you and your son almost at the same time go through heart blood clot issues how much did that kind of challenge your mental health in that moment well I yeah that that that was a scare because I'm I like to think I'm in pretty good shape you know you mentioned Pat I work out with him my wife's a clean eater so you know most of the time around my my house we're trying to eat healthy and I don't know with covid and the vaccine and the booster I don't know if it was related to that I don't know if it with the travel that I do when I'm on these planes I have no idea uh I've done a lot of testing on the back end of that and uh I like the thing think that I'm in a I'm in a good spot but it's an eye opener you know because and I thought it was just like a initially I thought I had a calf strain because I I get that from time to time from running I just thought it was a calf strain and then I went in just by chance you you get older hey can I do a a heart scan make sure my arteries everything's good and they're like they did the scan and they said hey your arteries are good but you got clots in your lungs which means they left my calf you hear people dying of this left my calf went into my bloodstream through my heart sometimes they they stop in your heart they get clogged and people die immediately yeah they went through my heart into my lungs and and and that's kind of where they run into a dead end so the next day I I went to a different doctor and they did an ultrasound on my calf and they're like oh my gosh you have a a cluster of clots in your calf so that's that's when they found that out so yeah oh my gosh I mean it's it's a I basically I was very fortunate and yeah makes you want to do whatever you can to take care of yourself and then you know six or eight months later my son Zach almost a year ago to this this moment you and I are speaking just at a lake house and coughing I'm talking like bronchitis kind of cough I just thought it was allergies and then he went in and got checked out he has a massive heart left ventrical enlarged uh he's ejection fraction for people that understand Hearts um they would understand but it was down in the teens his heart was massively enlarged and so yeah I think when you go through things like that especially with your kids sure it makes you kind of take a step back and just want to do everything you can to try to help him out for you your son doing better um yeah he just graduated from Ohio State no he's got one more year my other son did one of the twins one more year but he is doing better since since that moment I mean it we're still you know when you face what he's facing um if his heart gets any worse he could be facing a transplant and so we're hoping to see his heart come down over time he's on about five or six meds every day and so you're hoping that that will happen some cases it does come down in some cases that's your new Norm um so we're just kind of waiting and and hoping for the best it's not getting worse like I said if it got worse probably a transplant but um so far so good if his heart will stay the same hopefully it'll it'll last a long time but you know when you're facing the thought of a heart transplant that's that's a big time you know all hands on deck what do we need to do you know who do we need to talk to to make the make sure that you know we we give him the best chance of uh of having a healthy healthy lifestyle therapy is something Kirk and I have both talked about a lot in this episode because it helped us with our mental health when we are struggling and we realized if we ask for help we could help ourselves with our mental health and guys that's why I want to tell you about man theapy go to mantherapy.org right now to take their 18-point head inspection it's a quick two-minute test that can help you a lot with your mental health and you just go down the list of questions and talk about your life work how you're feeling on the inside what you've experienced with your mental health and it can help you if you're struggling with anxiety depression or even suicidal thoughts and get you the tools and resources to help you with your mental health look I've appreciated this conversation so much with Kirk because he was this five-star recruit playing quarterback at Ohio State and if you look from the outside nothing was wrong but he talks about just how much therapy helped him in his personal life and also on the field so that's why I want to tell you again about man therapy go to man therapy.org today to help you with your mental health you've had a lot of big life moments maybe scares with health recently and one of my favorite things and this is the first thing my mom asked Emotional Support Dog Ben when I was going to have you on was is Ben going to be there is the dog I should have brought him is the dog gonna be there for the interview dang you should have reminded me I would have brought him for sure but Ben might be more famous than you now oh without a doubt at least from from September to January and that wasn't even the intent you know the intent was he is my he's like my best best friend I have four dogss and he's my oldest he's just uh just turned 10 and you know if you have dogs you understand this certain dogs have an old soul about them and he's just that dog he has an old soul and I took him on the road with me CU you got to remember when I go on the road I leave Wednesday and I go to the Thursday night game on Wednesday and I'm in a hotel and he's with me yep and then I stay there on Wednesday and Thursday and then I call the game Thursday night and then I get into a plane and I fly to college game day and I'm there in the morning for production meetings we tape a couple Sports Center segments and then I get on a plane and I fly to Cincinnati and I go to my son's game and he's with me then we go we're on the ground for three hours we watch my son's game I wait till the game's over I want to go down and give him a hug whether it's good or bad I just want him to know I'm there I then I get back on the plane Ben comes with me we fly back to college game day and then we do game day in morning and often times game day is at a different location then I fly to another location to call the Saturday night game he comes with me there I call the game he's up in the booth with me calling the game he'll be on the field pregame that's where some of the videos and then he'll go home with me so he I mean it's a and but to have him with me man going back to what this whole podcast is about I cannot tell you not for social media not for his Fame what he did for me to have him with me on my plane I just told you how many times I'm in a plane have him in my hotel room when I'm going over my notes I take him down to the production meetings with Al Michaels Al Michaels when he first met him was like you know there's 50 people in a hotel room eating yeah you know eggs and bacon and having a morning uh meeting and I brought him down and he's a dog that doesn't really know what a leash is so he just kind of works his way around the room and he got to Al and I I was looking at the producer was talking about the show and I was watching Ben and I'm looking over Al and I was kind of like like so I got up in the middle of the meeting went over got Ben brought him back over to me because I was like I don't think Al likes dogs and then the next week I kept him in the room didn't bring him down to the meeting because I didn't want him to upset Al and Al said where's Ben and I said I left him up in the room he goes why he goes you need to bring him down so I said are you sure okay I go upstairs bring him down and from that point on Ben in that that Amazon uh meetings if I don't bring him every single time so I bring him to that meeting Thursday night we call the game they do a little get together yeah at a hotel bar for like a hey great game and I'll go up to the room bring him down to that and he just kind of no leash he just kind of works his way around the room he's almost become part of the like our team really because if he's not there people don't know what to do but man I I'm telling you he is he has been such a uh a breath of fresh air from my mindset y um and I I can't believe I've done all these years without him but yeah the side part of that is he's on social media and he's he's become a big-time star for sure yeah truly man's best friend he's your emotional support animal he is and it's it speaks when like you're going through a traumatic situation you know I had a dog in my life when I was going through my stuff it changes your perspective on things yeah even going through Co when everything was I'm talking early Co when you're like people wiping groceries down you'd walk on a street and you pass another person they'd turn away from you remember those early yeah man our dogs they were I don't know how we would have gotten through it honestly I mean our dogs were and again we have four goldens we had three at the time but they are kind of the they're part of the family you know really so yeah it's big to have that but we're talking about Ben and other fun things so I want to kind of switch here because we've hit obviously a lot of mental health I want to get into some fun stuff with you with football uh favorite moment from college game day I've got a couple in my head uh when Lee Favorite College GameDay Moments I think said four-letter words yeah down in Houston yeah firing off the guns um but what's your favorite can you can you pick a favorite I know if I can really I mean Lee Lee kind of has his own Wing when it comes to there's so many favorite moments with him but yeah when he dropped an F bomb on live TV with that was and Carl Lewis who was our celebrity picker is like good thing the shows T you know on delay and I was like no no it's not uh that was a funny one because it was crystal clear most people would get fired if anything it helped his Q score go up um that was one they're just every week you know Pat McAfee coming on the show now um you know Pat is a guy that has an incredible personality what people don't see with Pat is what how he is behind the scenes the energy that he brings um how much respect he has for the college game day brand um you know basically has his hat in his hand so respectful of Lee Corso of Reese of Desmond everybody that's what makes him I think initially just come right in and be part of our team so he's been and again 28 29 years into this he's been like an Energizer Bunny for me personally behind closed doors and then on the set every week with him you just don't know what you're going to get into so yeah man I I'm just very fortunate to do a show with so many moments where you can't really just pick one like every week like next year you know I think we're starting week one in Dublin Ireland um week zero in Dublin Ireland for Florida State and Boston College and then week one I think it was just announced we're going Notre Dame at Texas A&M so you know it's I'm already here we are in May and I'm already looking forward to it scouting it out and Yeah speaking of scouting you're going to have basically a new scouting Nick Saban Joins College GameDay Department with with Coach SA on the desk too that's I mean he it's he's one of if not he is the best college football coach ever do it he the best he's the best and for him now to kind of show this personality that I think you know guys like you got to see you know in those closed door meetings on the sideline before a game it's going to be really cool for f we already saw it at the draft I mean it's incredible energy him too yeah it's so well said because you're right I I I'm privy to stuff that maybe you know that coaches don't show at a at a Podium yeah you know like you know Taylor in a different way that probably he acts sometimes at you know at a press conference and that's kind of the cool part of the job you know getting to know these guys Nick sa has such a great personality and he's very serious and he's very EXO yeah but I think people are going to kind of see him smile I think they're going to see him have some fun you know him and Pat together this year I mean that that's going to be uh you know that every week what are they going to be up to so but man just sitting there at the draft I'm because I'm big on listening to when someone's talking I'm not thinking about my next comment I'm like I want to hear what you're saying so he says something and I'm always thinking of the audience and there were two or three times he said some stuff and I I because he hadn't done a lot of TV and I said what do you mean by that you know just for the viewer to be able to teach them and really help us all understand some of the stuff because he's at such a different level a professor expert college football guy hey what what is the random fan how can they you know apply this to them yeah and if and if he can basically teach us every week you know I don't know if we're going to come up with a cool XO segment with him or what we might do each week but man it's going to be we're we're just kind of be at the beginning of what uh of where this thing might go with him being aboard well I love game day I'm excited for him to come on I'll get you out of here after a couple more I you know it's hard to pick obviously your favorite college game day moment I'm gonna ask Kirk's Favorite Games you another hard one of do you have a favorite game whether NFL college that you've called that you just think you know I go back to LSU two years ago but that's recent with the walk-off against Alabama but is there a game that you point to of like wow this is like I'm really lucky this is my job yeah well SE first the the selfish answer would be when an improbable Ohio State team in the first year uh that they had the playoff I didn't call the Alabama game intentionally because I wanted to watch it with my family so I called The Rose bow that year with jamus Winston in Florida State and Marcus Mariota in Oregon and then back to the hotel we had a a hotel the room that uh ESPN got rented out and we all all of us there were like 50 people watching Ohio State beat Alabama yeah and then the next week I called the Ohio State Oregon game and just to watch Ohio State because again they weren't supposed to beat Alabama they weren't supposed they lost to Virginia Tech early in the year at home remember yeah and JT Barrett replaced Braxton Miller and then some guy named Cardell Jones played against Wisconsin it was such an improbable story so yeah I love Ohio State but I've gotten to a point where I when I'm doing a game I don't really see Ohio State but that particular year in that game Ohio State Oregon I was professional all the way through but I I literally remember taking a knee as that confetti came down because I was happy for them and I had tears in my eyes because I was just so proud of Ohio State so that game really stands out to me but beyond that man there's so many games the one one year I would tell you I can't remember what year it was but Baker Mayfield in Oklahoma played in The Rose bow against Jake from in Georgia and they were up big early it looked like they were going to win and then Georgia came storming back it went into overtime Sunny Michelle scored an overtime to win that game and I thought man this setting for this game is fantastic and then a week later uh Alabama played Georgia and jayen Herz was struggling and Tua came off the bench at halftime true freshman never really played meaningful snaps ends up throwing that game winner in uh in OT so to have those backto back I think really uh stood out as is memorable games that was an incredible two you know two week run between those those two games uh you know for for me just talking about you calling games I've been really lucky to you know become friends with Kaye Hartong oh yeah who who I've had on the show she's you know been really really open about her mental health and you keep mentioning Chris Fowler you know he randomly followed me on Instagram when I started this and so him and I go back and forth off often and so it is really comforting to know that and you just meeting you now like people are open to talk about mental health in sports the stigma is Advice to Aspiring Sports Broadcasters changing last thing I'll ask you unless you got anything else to add advice to somebody that you know wants to go where you've gone be in your shoes get to the booth one day call football games or maybe there's that player that that was a high recruit and is now you know back up third string in college or high school um what would you tell you know kids that kind of want to get where you've been well I talk to kids all the time about that you know it's I talked to NFL players you know last year guys pregame coming up to me just talking to me about you know what they would do and I and I know the NFL does a nice job with their boot camp of trying to help guys learn um the cool thing now with you know just with this right here it was so different when I was coming up I mean you have even your phone um if you're really into it yeah I mean you gota like Nick Sabin we just talked about he's Nick Sabin no problem but Nick Sabin he he's really into war wanting to do TV like you'd be shocked at the end of a segment he's like was that okay like he don't want to just do this and check a box hey pay me I'm Nick sa no this guy wants to be like really good yeah and that's what I would tell you is it don't just do it because well the NFL didn't work out or I played for a handful of years and I guess I'll try this TV thing out like if you're going to do it just like you did as an athlete you got to really engage and you know what it's like cuz you you're on the different side of it than I am you're you're more like Chris Fowler Mike too Reese as far as like studying it understanding it the journalism aspect of it I'm more of more of the analyst Side Learning the game trying to study the game trying to explain the game and so there's a man you got to roll up your sleeves to to do this I think a lot of people look at it and they think you know that that anybody could do that kind of thing and I would just tell you that um I guess maybe anybody can but there's the amount of work that you have to put into it to to do it at at the level that you'd be comfortable with I would just encourage you to first of all fall in love with it yep that would be the big thing not worry about how fast you're moving up the ladder like enjoy what you're doing if it's a local podcast just have a have a ball doing a local podcast if it's local high school football games do the best you can where your feet are I think a lot of times in in life we're looking like you're doing this but you're looking like maybe I can interview there it's like like like for me I never thought about what the next door was I just I enjoyed my head was down and I'm not telling you this is the only way to do it but I just I I stayed here and then it's like okay the season ended it's like oh there's a door over there and you open that door you're like oh do I want to walk through this door but I was never looking to see what else is next so I I I would just encourage you if you ever no matter what level you get into it do the best job you can right here and if you have passion for for it and you love it it's amazing how those doors open and and present themselves without you trying to chase them so that that's a big thing that I would say and love it have passion for it and and just enjoy it and I think that comes across when you do what you do you know what I mean yeah passion hard work it all pays off Kirk thank you so much for coming on me game really appreciate it uh thanks for having me I'm moving to La I was going to say I'll I'll be at some of your son's High School football games see on the sideline but maybe you'll come back for a game who knows there we go I got to get on the on the jet with you McAfee have a good time thanks so much Kirk really appreciate it we'll see everybody right back here next week on the mental game and I love that conversation with Kirk it was so much fun to talk about his football career at Ohio State where he started struggling with his mental health and how he really broke the stigma on his own by starting to see the Buckey team psychiatrist but then just getting to live out his dream job for almost three decades on college game day he's just one of the best to ever do it in the booth and also obviously on the desk at college game day you'll have a lot of fun watching him this football season in both college and the NFL so again big thanks to Kirk herb Street for coming on the mental game next week I'll give you your one hint it's another surprise guest and they are a tick tock star that's your one hint we'll see you right back here next week on the mental game [Music] n