Kirk Herbstreit calls out Dan Orlovsky for 'embarrassing' comments on Justin Fields
1. But how do you really feel, Kirk Herbstreit?
ESPN’s lead college football analyst, a former Ohio State quarterback, was not pleased with colleague Dan Orlovsky’s negative analysis of Buckeyes quarterback Justin Fields. And he let the world know.
In case you missed it, Orlovsky got in social media hot water earlier this week because he told Pat McAfee that he had heard Fields was a “last guy in, first guy out” player. Orlovsky also said of Fields, “Like, not the maniacal work ethic. I’ve even heard it compared to Justin Herbert, where it was like, dude, when Justin Herbert showed up, he was like a psychopath when it came to working and getting ready for the draft. Or even at school, like, ‘Give me more; I want to work nonstop.’ And I’ve heard that there are issues with Justin Fields’ work ethic.”
Instead of just ignoring the social media blowback for a day or two so it would die down and disappear, Orlovsky posted a video on Twitter to try and explain his comments.
Herbstreit, however, wasn’t buying it.
Now, in the grand scheme of life this isn’t a big deal. Immature people like me love this stuff because it’s rare that somebody in sports media would publicly embarrass a colleague, and it’s extra juicy when it happens at ESPN because the company has been so aggressive about the enforcement of its social media policies.
But as with every company, you can put all the social media policies in place that you want, but there are always gonna be people who can get away with things others can’t because of their status. Herbstreit is one of those guys. ESPN isn’t going to fire him or levy any serious discipline for this (nor should it). And Herbstreit knows this, so he can let it fly on Twitter.
Orlovsky did not respond to Herbstreit publicly. We reached out to ESPN and Herbstreit for comments, but neither got back to us.
One piece of irony here: ESPN just found itself in the middle of another controversy when McAfee revealed the network banned its talent from his show. ESPN quickly claimed that wasn't its intent. Now this happens.
2. One of my best friends is Sal Licata. He's a radio host on WFAN in New York. Over the years, I've said to him a million times, "I don't know how you deal with callers." I just wouldn't have the patience the listen to dumb questions and comments over and over and over. Apparently, Cleveland's Bruce Drennan doesn't, either. Poor guy better pace himself because he has 161 more games of this.
3. When you make $341 million, you're a bad mother f'er at any age, but this is still a solid response by Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor.
4. Baseball fans have to make up for a lost season when it comes to hating the Astros over their cheating scandal, since they couldn't attend games in 2020. The folks at last night's Houston-Oakland game got the ball rolling by loudly cheering when A's pitcher Chris Bassitt hit shortstop Carlos Correa with a pitch.
5. Having fans back in the stands at MLB games also means we're back to seeing people behave in embarrassing ways just to get a baseball.
6. This week's SI Media Podcast features an interview with WWE superstar Edge.
Topics covered include his main-eventing this year's WrestleMania with Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan, coming back 10 years after retiring, the importance of humor as a wrestler, his best friend Christian leaving WWE for AEW and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: A friend reminded me of this scene this morning and there really isn't a better way to close out the week than with a classic moment from the Social Assassin.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Stitcher. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.