Kirk Herbstreit‘s mourns the loss of man’s best friend… and dives into the death of his dog Ben live.

The football commentator appeared on ESPN’s “College GameDay” Saturday morning … just two days after announcing that he and his wife had to put his golden retriever to sleep – who traveled with him to many of his matches.

During the broadcast, ESPN played a clip all about Ben… with Kirk talking about how he was much more than just a dog or traveling companion – and Ben is clearly still feeling very raw emotionally because he could barely talk about Ben during the broadcast. the show.

Right before the clip, Kirk’s cohosts thanked him for sharing Ben with them… and the crowd starts chanting “We love Ben!” rhythmic.

It looks like Kirk had to share a little more about his pup… but watch the video: he just couldn’t get the words out.