How an Ohio State team psychiatrist helped change Kirk Herbstreit’s college football career

For Kirk Herbstreit, Ohio State football was his “everything.”

A former five-star quarterback out of Centerville High School and a Buckeye legacy, Herbstreit remembered the expectations that were placed on him heading into his Ohio State career, from starting for four years to winning multiple Rose Bowls.

But during his appearance on “The Mental Game Podcast,” Herbstreit, who is now a college football analyst for ESPN, admitted his difficulty adapting to Ohio State as a freshman, something that very nearly led him to quitting football. However, he said it also led him to see the football team’s psychiatrist, who helped turn Herbstreit’s mindset around.

“Man, I struggled. I just could not deal with it,” Herbstreit said. “I had a really hard time adapting to it. I moved to defensive back, I was covering kickoffs and then I circled back to quarterback my last three years. And I was just at the end of the road. I was ready to quit. There was no NIL, there was no transfer portal. I was just ready to go play baseball and be done with football. And my dad was like, ‘Give it another spring.’ And then I ended up going to see this doctor. And I’m telling you, the courage it took in 1990-91 to go into his office, which was at Ohio Stadium – they gave him a little nook − i’ll never forget walking from my apartment, looking around my shoulder the entire time wondering if anybody saw me, knocking on his door and, even then, still kind of looking. Isn’t it crazy that you’re so afraid. I was like 20, 21 years old and I didn’t want people to make fun of me, just to be honest. I didn’t want people to think I was weak because of the way we were trained. But at least I had the courage to knock on his door.”

Oct 21, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; ESPN sportscaster Kirk Herbstreit sits on the set of College…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-team-psychiatrist-helped-141004302.html

Author : The Columbus Dispatch

Publish date : 2024-05-28 14:10:04

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