Kirk Herbstreit ran afoul of ESPN's "Thou shalt not bad mouth fellow ESPNers" commandment Thursday.
Herbstreit, ESPN's lead college football analyst, wound up apologizing on Twitter for a since-deleted tweet critical of reporting on Michigan State's Larry Nassar abuse scandal.
The original tweet, sent in response to news that the NCAA cleared the school's basketball and football programs in the matter:
"Can't wait to watch, read, and listen to ALL the follow up stories from the same folks that had @MSUBasketball and @MSU _ Football Guilty Until Proven Innocent. Is that one reporter that followed Coach Izzo around at post game pressers gonna chase him down now?!?"
That one reporter at the basketball postgame news conferences was from ESPN's "Outside the Lines," and ESPN producer/reporter Nicole Noren soon fired back:
"Thanks Kirk. We also look forward to the follow-up stories we're working on about holding education officials accountable in regards to reports of violence against women."
Noren included a postscript with a link to an "Outside the Lines" story from April that she worked on with Paula Lavigne on Michigan State's handling of a 2010 sexual assault.
Herbstreit eventually backtracked, erased his initial reaction and tweeted out his regrets:
"I've seen some strong reactions to my now deleted tweet about MSU. I apologize for the unnecessary dig at the reporters who worked hard on an important story."
