ESPN College GameDay gives Lee Corso incredible tribute, Corso responds emotionally
ESPN’s College GameDay has been a staple for college football fans for a long time, and it’s impossible to think of College GameDay without thinking of legendary host Lee Corso.
On Saturday, Corso will don his 400th set of headgear on the set of the storied show.
To honor him, ESPN put together a lengthy montage of some of the greatest Corso moments, commentated by various college football coaches, media types and players. It was an absolute tear-jerker, so be warned when watching below.
Corso’s place in College GameDay will likely never be fully replaced or matched, as his unbridled passion and enthusiasm, evidenced above, always made for a unique show.
After Corso experienced a stroke, fellow host Kirk Herbstreit wondered how the show would eventually go forward without Corso.
“Just like Charles Barkley is to the TNT show, Lee has been that for us,” Herbstreit said. “I feel like to do good, quality studio television, not everybody can be the same. You need people who bring something a little bit different to the show. Lee was kind of that guy like Charles is to that show. As time has gone on, Lee’s getting older. I’ve always thought about, ‘what are we gonna do without Lee? How is our show gonna be a show without Lee?’”
Corso has been on College GameDay since 1987 and is entering his 36th season on ESPN’s College GameDay. He recently turned 88 in August.
He had a stroke back in 2009 but has worked hard to regain all of his normal speech patterns, something he credited ESPN with being patient with him on. In a moving speech after seeing the montage on Saturday, Corso reacted. You can watch his complete reaction here.
“Four hundred? Wow,” Corso said. “Where has time gone? I first want to thank ESPN for sticking with me when I had my stroke. Second of all, a special shoutout to Kirk’s wife, Alison. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have had Brutus (headgear). Finally, to all my colleagues on the set through all these years, for putting up with me and my shtick, thank you for everything.”