Peter Herbstreit, ESPN College Gameday analyst Kirk Herbstreit’s beloved Golden Retriever, has been a fixture on college football and NFL pregame shows for the last couple of years. Following the death of Ben, Herbstreit’s first traveling Golden Retriever, in 2024, Peter took over the mantle from his brother. Since then, he’s been accompanying the longtime broadcaster on road trips throughout the season.
This fall, the popular pup has some new duties on his plate. Hertz announced Monday that Peter has been added to its Hertz Gold Squad, the company’s collection of Golden Retrievers that help make traveling easier around the country.
Additionally, Peter will be hosting a weekly social media series, “Peter’s Golden Picks,” where he will predict the week’s top matchups.
“Peter and I spend most of football season traveling together, so joining the Hertz Gold Squad feels like a perfect fit,” Herbstreit said in a press release. “I’m proud of him. I just hope signing this major deal doesn’t go to his head. Now we’ll see if his game picks are actually any good, he’s actually got a pretty good nose for these things.”
It’s unclear how Peter will go about picking his winners. There is seemingly a market for this content though. Lilo Ku, the “Air Corgi,” was quite popular during the NBA Playoffs, though her Finals prediction was off the mark (obligatory “Knicks in 5!” mention).
There is some online debate over just how well-liked Peter is at this point, but Kirk Herbstreit says on the road, people’s feelings are clear.
“Ben kind of started this,” Herbstreit said last fall. “Peter, I call a Taylor Swift of college football. His popularity; it’s insane. I think you could add all of us on the GameDay set combined, and I don’t think it adds up to Peter’s popularity. It’s the wildest thing I have ever seen. I’ve become just a dog handler when I am on the road. People are like, ‘Can I have my picture with Peter?’ And I say, of course.”
“Peter’s Golden Picks” will begin Sept. 1. That’s the Tuesday before Week 1 of the college football season, which begins Thursday, Sept. 3.
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