College football fans showed up to ESPN’s College GameDay in full support of analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who announced the passing of his beloved dog, Ben, on Thursday.
Ben, a golden retriever, frequently accompanied Herbstreit on his road trips around the country and had developed a fan base of his own.
Herbstreit’s four-legged shadow was diagnosed with leukemia in March, with the disease taking a turn for the worst over the last few weeks.
Fans brought dozens of signs with pictures of Ben with some of them reading ‘Long live Ben Herbstreit’ and ‘We love you Ben’ with hearts around it.
Herbstreit did not miss a broadcasting assignment due to Ben’s passing, as he was in Baltimore for Ravens-Bengals the day he announced the tragic news.
Kirk Herbstreit announced earlier this week that his dog Ben passed away from leukemia
College football fans showed up to College GameDay to support Herbstreit on Saturday
‘Calling last nights game was very challenging-so fortunate to work with such an extraordinary group of people at @NFLonPrime – from the pregame show to the game and the people behind the scenes,’ Herbstreit posted on social media.
‘Thank you for love and kindness to help me get through it. And thank you to the Bengals and Ravens for providing such a compelling game.’
Ben’s most-recent trip to a college football game his dad was assigned to was Texas A&M against LSU on October 26.
The golden with a recognizable smile was expected to appear while Herbstreit made the trip to State College, Pennsylvania for Ohio State-Penn State last weekend, but he did not appear due to his worsening condition.
During Ben’s most recent football trip, he was reunited with Reveille, the live mascot for Texas A&M.
Tributes from around the college football world have poured in since Herbstreit announced Ben’s passing, with Saturday’s signs a heartwarming continuation.
