ESPN college football commentator Kirk Herbstreit revealed that he underwent an operation on his back after suffering an injury that left him homebound for ‘six weeks.’
Herbstreit is one of the most in-demand sportscasters in America each fall. His schedule takes him across the country for ‘College GameDay’ on Saturday mornings to ‘Saturday Night Football’ in the evenings, as well as to the NFL ranks with ‘Thursday Night Football’ on Amazon Prime Video.
The constant demand has Herbstreit traveling across the country each week from August to late January as he calls and covers the nation’s most popular sport.
But this past offseason, Herbstreit says his back issues kept him from leaving his home for days on end.
‘I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t leave my house for six weeks,’ Herbstreit said in an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Friday.
As the commentator explained, he was in Las Vegas to see country star Kenny Chesney’s opening night of a residency at The Sphere.
Football analyst Kirk Herbstreit says he had a debilitating back injury that kept him homebound
Herbstreit, seen with his late dog Ben, couldn’t walk for six weeks due to compressed nerves
The following morning, when he and his wife were set to leave breakfast, Herbstreit stood up and then felt his back seize.
‘Got up from breakfast, couldn’t walk. Just [my back] locked up,’ the commentator said, adding that he needed to use a wheelchair.
Herbstreit saw Dr Allen Sills, the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer, who lives in his adopted hometown of Nashville.
After Sills and his team took a look at the former Ohio State quarterback’s back, the extent of the damage was revealed.
‘I have so much degenerative stuff, I have stenosis. I didn’t know any of this. I didn’t know any of these words six weeks ago,’ Herbstreit said. ‘I couldn’t get out of the bed or walk for six weeks.’
Herbstreit said he underwent a non-invasive procedure at the hands of Dr Raymond Gardocki, during which he ‘grabbed a bone spur that was compressing my L5 nerve.’
‘That took the burning sensation out of my right leg,’ Herbstreit said. ‘I had these zingers in my upper quad and upper glute. I just couldn’t walk.’
After undergoing a pair of procedures, Herbstreit has recovered and is ‘ready to roll now’
Two weeks later, Gardocki underwent another procedure to remove bone fragments from Herbstreit’s spine and ‘cleared out the L4 nerve.’
Now, the 56-year-old analyst is back on his feet: ‘I’ve been able to walk here for about a week now. I’m ready to roll now,’ Herbstreit said.
He added that he’s been moving ‘two to three miles’ per day to re-gain his mobility.
With Herbstreit feeling better, it’s only a matter of weeks before he graces the televisions and streaming devices of football fans across the country.
