One of the in-game commentators in the NCAA Football franchise has now become one of the first - if not the loudest - voices in trying to get the franchise to return.

Analyst Kirk Herbsteit is not only hoping the series returns, he puts the blame squarely at the feet of Ed O'Bannon, whose class-action lawsuit helped lead to the (temporary?) end of EA SPORTS' NCAA Football franchise. In an interview with SECcountry.com, Herbstreit issued the following comments: “I was probably as devastated or more devastated than anybody in the country. I’ll do anything I can do to help be a part, to lead a cause, bring that game back.” ... "I can’t believe Ed O’Bannon took that game away from us.”

If Herbstreit is serious about helping to see NCAA Football return - which we believe he is - he should use his connections and weekly in-season meetings with Athletic Directors and athletic departments to push for schools/conferences to actually use their highly clamored for autonomy and establish player likeness rights for student-athletes. Since acquiring the rights to make some of their own rules, the Power Five conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12, and SEC) and the NCAA have continued to punt on finally addressing this long-term issue. Until that issue (and likely all litigation) is settled, there is no little to no hope for the franchise returning.

Continue on to read an excerpt of SECcountry.com's interview with Herbstreit.



Kirk Herbstreit’s friendly tone was gone. It was mid-November, and the upbeat ESPN analyst just finished discussing Nick Saban, Lane Kiffin and Alabama’s College Football Playoff hopes.

Then he go [sic] quiet; angry silence brought about by a simple question: Are they bringing the NCAA Football video game back?

There’s a rustle on the other end of the line.

Then, Herbstreit spoke.

“They better,” he said. “I can’t believe Ed O’Bannon took that game away from us.”

There’s plenty to unpack here. “They” is a conglomerate of the NCAA, EA Sports and a coalition of former players headed by O’Bannon, an ex-UCLA and NBA forward who filed an antitrust class action lawsuit against the NCAA demanding payment for commercial use of amateur athletes’ images.

One of the lawsuit’s consequences was the demise of NCAA Football, EA Sports’ beloved video-game franchise that used tens of thousands of players’ likenesses in its run from 1993-2013.

Herbstreit, a senior Ohio State quarterback when the inaugural version of NCAA Football dropped, would play marathon sessions with wide receiver Joey Galloway.

“I can’t even tell you how many hours we put in on that game,” Herbstreit says.

Within a decade, Herbstreit was featured on the game as an analyst, teaming up with play-by-play man Brad Nessler and peppy former coach Lee Corso to become an unforgettable video game trio.

When EA Sports discontinued publishing the game two years ago, Herbstreit was floored.

“I was probably as devastated or more devastated than anybody in the country,” he says. “I’ll do anything I can do to help be a part, to lead a cause, bring that game back.”

Herbstreit contends that — pay or no pay — athletes want the franchise to return.

“Every single college football player,” he said. “You know what they’d love for their compensation to be? Just give ‘em a free game. That’s the compensation that they would take.

“I’ve never met one player in college football that’s like: ‘They can’t use my name and likeness! I need to be paid!’ They’re just thrilled to be on the game. They love being on the game. It’s like the biggest highlight of their life, is to be on the game.”

Courtesy: SECcountry.com