Kirk Herbstreit’s spouse, Alison Butler, was just lately identified with breast most cancers. This revelation got here shortly after his emotional look through the School Soccer Playoff Nationwide Championship broadcast. The ESPN analyst’s disclosure highlights a collection of non-public struggles his household has confronted over the previous yr.
Right here’s what we all know concerning the challenges Herbstreit revealed and the way they’ve impacted his household.
Kirk Herbstreit will get emotional after revealing spouse’s breast most cancers analysis
Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN faculty soccer analyst, shared his private struggles following his emotional response to Ohio State’s championship win on January 20, 2025.
Talking on The Pat McAfee Present on January 21, Herbstreit shared, “It’s been a troublesome yr for me behind the scenes. My spouse received identified with breast most cancers.” He added that the victory introduced a wave of aid and emotion after a difficult interval.
Herbstreit’s spouse, Alison Butler, was identified with breast most cancers in 2024. The couple, married since 1998, shares 4 sons: twins Tye and Jake, 24, Zak, 22, and Chase, 18. Reflecting on the toll of the analysis and different household hardships, Herbstreit additionally mourned the lack of their golden retriever, Ben, to most cancers in November 2024. “It’s been a number of emotion,” he acknowledged. “If you do what we do, you endure. You do your job. However that night time, all of it simply received the perfect of me.”
Including to the emotional weight, Herbstreit recalled his son Zak’s coronary heart failure in 2023, which required hospitalization and led to Zak’s medical retirement from soccer. Regardless of not taking part in, Zak remained an integral a part of the Ohio State staff thanks to move coach Ryan Day’s assist. “Ryan Day put his arms round Zak and stored him concerned. That meant every little thing to me,” Herbstreit stated.
After the sport, Herbstreit appeared visibly emotional throughout ESPN’s postgame broadcast with Scott Van Pelt. “I’m slightly emotional. I’m simply fired up for these guys,” he admitted, acknowledging the challenges the staff and his household confronted. His emotional response highlighted each private struggles and deep appreciation for resilience on and off the sphere.
