The LSU Tigers have a big season-opening game against the Clemson Tigers in Baton Rouge at Tiger Stadium this weekend, but the hot topic surrounding the program is the controversy of former NFL players returning to play in college.
LSU made headlines over the past couple of weeks when they welcomed former Ole Miss Rebels TE Dae’Quan Wright and ex-Rebels DT Zxavian Harris back to the program after both were cut by NFL teams during the preseason. Both Wright and Harris played for Kiffin when he was the head coach of the Rebels last year. A third member of the group, defensive end Jack Pyburn, was also set to rejoin the program after he was cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the weekend. However, he was picked up off waivers by the Kansas City Chiefs and is set to stay in the NFL.
With that being said, LSU is currently in a waiting game as the SEC is adamantly against the idea of pro players returning to play in college. The SEC is set to argue against a possible preliminary injunction favoring players who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in a Louisiana federal court.
Kirk Herbstreit, who is well-known and respected throughout the college football world for his analyst work on ESPN over the past three decades, didn’t hold back in his own thoughts on the subject.
“I am a guy that gets to about here with everything that’s going on off the field in the sport,” Herbstreit told Heavy Sports while making an appearance at the Raising Cane’s in Baton Rouge. “I don’t follow it that closely to really have a strong opinion. Off the cuff, it doesn’t make sense to me for somebody to go to the NBA, say, have an NBA jersey on, and then have the ability to come back and play college basketball. The same would be true to me in the NFL. It doesn’t make sense if you put on an NFL uniform to have the ability to come back.
“That would seem like common sense to me,” Herbstreit continued. “I know now we’ve got injunctions and local judges and things that have happened. I don’t know. College football is upside down, and it has been for a number of years. I don’t know how we’re ever going to get out of it.”
Kirk Herbstreit: College Players Aren’t Learning Values in NIL Era
A lot of criticism has been made over how college sports has transformed during the NIL era. Since NIL was legalized in 2021, it has resulted in a “Wild West” for college sports where just about anything goes. If a player is unhappy with a program, he can simply transfer and not sit out a year like before.
Furthermore, if a player is offered more money elsewhere, he can also simply transfer and leave the program that he was with without penalty.
But as Herbstreit accurately points out, earning money in college is one thing, but not learning proper values by doing whatever you please isn’t exactly constructive.
“If I’m a player and I don’t get the answer that I want, just go find an attorney and go sue whoever is not giving you what you want,” said Herbstreit. “And bigger picture for me is as a parent, I just worry about it’s one thing to chase money in this NIL era. It’s another thing to learn values that are going to help you. I just worry about where some of these players might be five, 10, 15 years down the road when they’re not learning how to deal with adversity.
“Every person in this room, as an adult, I always say you’re either in a storm, you’re coming out of a storm, or you’re going into a storm in life, whether it’s in your personal life, your business, whatever it might be,” Herbstreit continued. “You have to create a skill set and tools to be able to understand how to navigate through that. I hope that these kids, football — that’s the secret sauce of why I love the game so much. You get knocked down, you get back up. You learn about team, you learn about ‘Wow, I’m not starting. I’m upset. I got to work harder.’ Those are such valuable things that you learn.”
Kirk Herbstreit Meets Up With Todd Graves at Raising Cane’s in Baton Rouge
As Herbstreit prepares to call the LSU-Clemson season opener, he made an appearance at Raising Cane’s in Baton Rouge with founder Todd Graves. The two talked college football, expectations for the Tigers this season and obviously shared some chicken strips together.
“I’d say family,” said Herbstreit of the biggest memories he has of knowing Graves. “Family and friends is what really stands out to me from the very first time we started to hang out. It was just some people you naturally gravitate towards, regardless of whatever the business they happen to be in. But I think with Todd, just like anybody here that meets somebody, and you become friendly with, and then of course, I’m doing my business, he’s obviously incredibly successful in what he’s doing, and I think over time, I meet his family. He’s met my family. We hang out, socialize, and it’s just an easy relationship that I really enjoy beyond just the business aspect of it. We just socialize and hang out.”
They also announced the “Peter Fan Club” pop-up stand, which is adjacent to the Raising Cane’s restaurant located just minutes from Tiger Stadium.
“Peter Fan Club, Kirk’s son started it,” Graves told Heavy Sports. “We’re going to first pop up next door. They sent me a text, ‘Hey, got an idea of doing this?’ I think it’s brilliant. I got a spot for you to do it because Peter is one of the most famous dogs in the country, and he’s such a good pup. It’s just always great to have a dog around.”
Kirk Herbstreit Doesn’t Hold Back on LSU, NFL Player Controversy