One of the most respected college football personalities is Kirk Herbstreit. Whether he is on ESPN's College GameDay or calling games on TV, he is one of the best in the business by far.
Some people however might not know that he is a former quarterback of the Ohio State Buckeyes. One would assume this is something Herbstreit would want everyone to know, especially during the past season when the Buckeyes won the National Championship, but he keeps this fact hidden by design.
Herbstreit believes that covering college football on a national level means that you can't let your personal fandoms show on live TV. Herbstreit even went as far as to call out some TV personalities for failing to do this, which included one SportsCenter host who happens to be a big Georgia fan.
“I don’t think you can cheer when you do games on a national level,” Herbstreit shared via on3.com. “Guys that are in a studio show nationally, like when you watch SportsCenter and Elle Duncan is sitting there cheering for openly. I’m not a fan of that personally, like it hurts your credibility when that team is playing other teams. And then fans are looking at you like, you know.”
Kirk Herbstreit singles out Georgia fan on SportsCenter
While it might be nice as a Georgia fan to have a UGA fan openly supporting Georgia as much as Elle Duncan does on live TV, it's hard to argue against Herbstreit's point. One of the rules of sports journalism is to not let your fandom show through in your work, unless of course someone is covering one specific team. Duncan however fails to do this on SportsCenter.
Duncan responded to this accusation on X in the below post where she was shocked to be called out like this.
Didn’t have this on my bingo card for today but my fandom doesn’t impact in any way what or how we talk about teams on air. Ever. I…JUST..BARK?? Also **whispers** I’m not the only one. So why I get singled out?
— Elle Duncan (@elleduncanESPN) July 4, 2025
This is an interesting response because Duncan first said her fandom "doesn't impact in any way what or how we talk about teams on air." However, in the same post she then said "I'm not the only one."
So which is it? Does Duncan think she lets her fandom get in the way or not?
It will be interesting to see if Duncan changes how she acts on camera or not, but as Georgia fans it would be nice to see her continue to prop up the Bulldogs any chance she gets.