College Football HQ

Kirk Herbstreit says he had 8 Emmy Awards taken from house when he was away

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit reveals that Emmy Awards had to be taken from his house when he was away.
James Parks|
Dec 30, 2023; Pasadena, CA, USA; ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit reacts during Rose Bowl media day at Rose Bowl Stadium.
Dec 30, 2023; Pasadena, CA, USA; ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit reacts during Rose Bowl media day at Rose Bowl Stadium. | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this year, ESPN apologized after news came out that the network was using fake names in Emmy Award categories in which employees were not eligible to win. Among those network personalities was college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who received the award despite being unaware of the apparent ruse by the network.

What happened to those Emmy Awards? Herbstreit explained on The Pat McAfee Show.

"When College GameDay or any of these shows win an Emmy, when the show does, I was native to the whole thing. I thought the people on the set would get an Emmy," he said.

"So all these years I didn't know what was going on. I just thought, 'Hey, this finally came. Where's this been?' Stuck it on the mantle and moved on."

But later on, Herbstreit learned he wasn't supposed to get the awards, and was told that the group which hands them out wanted to come and get them back.

The thing was, Herbie wasn't home.

"Two years ago, they said, 'That was not supposed to go to you guys on the set, so we've got to take them all back,'" he said. "And I was like, 'Well, I'm not in my house in Nashville. You're going to have to go get them.' And they were like, 'Okay, no problem.' They went down and got them and took eight of my 13 of them out of the house."

Now the rules have been changed, allowing Herbstreit and others to win Emmy Awards, too, and since College GameDay won again this year, that should allow him to put one back on the mantle.

"I think after they changed the rule, and now if GameDay wins one, now I think guys like me and you and Des and Rece and Coach [Corso], we legally get one now," Herbstreit said. "I think technically it's our ninth, but it's our first one we can actually have in our house."

(Herbstreit)

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He has covered football for a decade, previously managing several team sites and publishing national content for 247Sports.com for five years. His work has also been published on CBSSports.com. He founded College Football HQ in 2020, and the site joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022 and the On SI network in 2024.

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