Kirk Herbstreit and his golden retriever, Ben, have become ubiquitous figures in the lives of football fans this season.
And that continued on Thursday, as the 10-year-old Ben Herbstreit stole the show in Cleveland for Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football between the New York Jets and Browns. He’s already won over Al Michaels, and it didn’t take long for him to win over the rest of the country.
Ben has been on the road with Heberstreit and the TNF crew for the past six weeks, according to Michaels.
“He’s working the sidelines tonight,” said Michaels. “Everybody loves this dog. There he was with Aaron Rodgers; Benny and the Jet right there.”
Ben, Kirk Herbstreit’s golden retriever, joins Herbstreit and Al Michaels in the booth during Thursday night’s game. pic.twitter.com/uJb91hqiSk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 29, 2023
One of three goldens that the Herbstreit own (Theo and Mitch remain at home), Ben was recently certified as an emotional support animal, which means he can join Kirk in more places, such as hotels, making it easier for the pup to join his dad all week long, whether it’s at whatever campus GameDay is at that weekend or on the plane to the next game.
With just over seven minutes left in the final TNF game of the 2023 NFL season, Ben visited Kirk and Michaels in the booth, sporting a headset.
“You’ve heard of three in the booth?” said Michaels. “What do you think?”
Here’s what fans on social media thought:
https://twitter.com/timehasflownby/status/1740591148568301749?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1740591148568301749%7Ctwgr%5E2e0dee7c1ab183e8040a1985ded4221bd34cc806%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Ftimehasflownby%2Fstatus%2F1740591148568301749
Just a thought, Ben in the booth with a Rose in his mouth during Rose Bowl game should happen, along with other segments throughout @CollegeGameDay coverage all weekend long starting Saturday @KirkHerbstreit @PatMcAfeeShow @chrisfallica https://t.co/8Ymhczx8n1
— DJM (@BostonGuyinFLA) December 29, 2023
Ben is always welcome on all of my screens. https://t.co/tXuRUQmlyn
— Ken Fang — Very Asian (@fangsbites) December 29, 2023
https://twitter.com/BartolosCologne/status/1740588450028679190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1740588450028679190%7Ctwgr%5Eb393335785245b22b2a3a834483b3305a98fffe3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FBartolosCologne%2Fstatus%2F1740588450028679190
Will Ben return to the booth next season? Will he join Kirk on College GameDay? Only the Herbstreits know for sure. But one thing is certain: the NFL and its fans won’t soon forget Ben the Golden Retriever.