‘Love you Ben’ — ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit announces sad news about the passing of lovable Golden Retriever
Herbstreit’s four-legged companion earned superstar status and first-class treatment from college football fans
There’s plenty of four-legged mascots in college football, but few earned superstar status and got the first-class treatment like Ben, Kirk Herbstreit’s lovable Golden Retriever.
Herbstreit explained Ben’s cancer diagnosis when the two were in Austin for the Georgia-Texas game. Then on Thursday, Herbstreit announced on social media the cancer has spread, and his furry friend passed away. Ben was 10.
“This is really hard to write but so many of you have loved and cared about Ben that I wanted to let you know,” Herbstreit posted on X. “We found out today the cancer had spread throughout Bens organs and there was nothing left we could do-we had to let him go.
“I’ve had dogs my whole life but Ben was 1 on 1. He was smart-loving-gentle-patient-inquisitive-and welcoming to all. Always a big smile and a soft tail wag. He and I could communicate..he and I understood each other and had each others backs.
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“He was with me more than anyone at home and traveling with me for work,” Herbstreit continued. “Such an easy going companion. Hard day-but he will live within all of us forever. God please bless his majestic soul and thank you for putting him in my life for the last 10 years-a true blessing.”
Herbstreit signed the post, “Love you Ben.”
Fans noticed in early October when Ben did not travel with Herbstreit to his weekly football broadcasting duties. Then on Oct. 18, Herbstreit made a promotional appearance at an Austin-area Raising Cane’s restaurant with the retriever at his side.
Responding to a question from A to Z Sports about Ben’s health, Herbstreit explained how Ben had three types of cancer that required intense medical supervision.
“Yeah, I guess it’s very rare,” Herbstreit said at the time. “It started with leukemia, and then they were concerned at that point — this is back in March — they didn’t know how long he had, just seeing how it would continue to go. They put him on chemo. Initially, it was at home where you just give him a pill, and most recently, his numbers were elevated. That's why he didn't come with me last week.
“So now they’re injecting the chemo,” he added. “He’s taking three different chemos. He takes that one, and I give him two other forms of a pill every day. His numbers came down drastically after a week. So that's why he's back out in the road with me. But we see how he responds to this.”
Ben and Kirk would appear tougher on camera from multiple college football locations, most recently the broadcast booth for the LSU-Texas A&M game.
“It’s just, he’s a family member,” Herbstreit said at Raising Cane’s. “So when you have somebody, you know whether it’s a person or a dog, in this case, going through something, you're just trying to keep him happy. And you don't take any day for granted.
“Every day I wake up I see him with his tail wagging. I'm like, you know, it's a great day to celebrate. So having him out on the road, I think, again, helps him as much as helps me, because he's he loves being in the mix of being part of the part of what's going on. So it's been fun.”
