Kirk Herbstreit Unleashes Rant on Desmond Howard Over Ohio State NIL Spending

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nick Meyer | Last updated Jan 10, 2025 6:48 PM ET

The Ohio State Buckeyes prepared to take on the Texas Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday night with a trip to the national championship game on the line.

Prior to the game, Ohio State alumnus and former Buckeyes quarterback Kirk Herbstreit found himself in a heated discussion with former Michigan Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard over the perception that Ohio State "bought" their current team with twenty-plus million dollars of offseason expenditures.

Herbstreit could not contain his emotion as he attempted to paint a picture of the Buckeyes' offseason team building while Howard insisted on chiming on with a take on Buckeyes freshman Jeremiah Smith.

"They've lost some tough games. That's what I think is interesting about this team," Herbstreit said on Thursday, his vocal tone becoming faster and more hurried as time went on.

"They brought in Caleb Downs who's a great player, that's the only guy on defense. They brought in a backup running back (Quinshon Judkins) who actually hasn't played a ton, he's a good back.

"And they brought in Will Howard and they brought in a center from Alabama who's hurt (Seth McLaughlin), doesn't get to play, so the perception is they went out, and bought 20 million dollars...The reality is they paid 20 million dollars to keep their guys from leaving and going elsewhere, so..."

It was then that Howard, Herbstreit's former rival from their playing days, chimed in.

"They went out and bought Jeremiah Smith, he didn't come cheap!" Howard said, laughing.

"But bro, here's the thing," Herbstreit responded. "The perception is wrong with Ohio State. The perception is, they went out and found players, the reality is, this is a veteran defense, and you know what it's like when you have three-and-four-year guys, have been there forever, won a lot of great games, lost a lot to Michigan, lost to Oregon, lost to Georgia. It's a hardened team, that's been through a lot of (expletive) and I think that's what makes them really have a little bit of, this is our last stance."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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