Kirk Herbstreit vows to keep sliding hip terms into ‘Thursday Night Football’

Al Michaels might be 80 years old, but you’ve probably noticed Kirk Herbstreit keeping Thursday Night Football young with super cool, hip terms.

Yes, Kirk Herbstreit said “chalked” this week on Thursday Night Football during the New York Giants’ surprising 34-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. And yes, he meant to say it.

It happened late in the fourth quarter, when the Giants looked to cement their victory by pushing running back Devin Singletary through a pile of defenders toward the first-down marker.

“The Eagles are chalked right now,” Herbstreit said after watching the replay. “They just are completely disengaged.”

For those who don’t know, “chalked” means a feeling that something is hopeless or finished. And not only did Herbstreit intend to use it, but on Friday morning, he revealed dropping a term like “chalked” was a challenge from his kids.

You like that?  Well, lucky for you, Herbstreit says there’s even more where that came from.

“My 4 boys, all 19-25, challenged me over the summer to slide a couple terms in every once in awhile. “Aura farming” “it’s not that deep” “rage baiting” and “chalked”. Told em I’ll try Chalked if it applies. It applied last night late in the 4th Q,” Herbstreit wrote on TikTok, paired with a video from the booth of the moment “chalked” was used.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Al Michaels’ reaction as laughter ensued in the booth after Herbstreit said “chalked.” Was he in on the joke? Or was he as clueless as most of the audience was Thursday night?

Announcers have long been accepting word challenges. Last year, Detroit Tigers play-by-play voice Jason Benetti worked in a whole cast of ridiculous words during a game, all of which were suggested by players, including, funkytown, yellowtail, Fortnite, pineapples, and perpendicular. Conan O’Brien once famously challenged Joe Buck to say “jub-jub” during a World Series broadcast. And now Herbstreit appears to be continuing the trend.

The Thursday Night Football slate of games is undoubtedly improved from what it was years ago. But on those nights where it’s a bad matchup, some fans will still tune in for their bets or fantasy teams, while others can now watch for the sole purpose of catching Herbstreit say, “it’s not that deep.”