Lee Corso's emotional farewell: His final 'College GameDay' at Ohio State holds special significance

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It is rare for a sports broadcasting figure to retire on his own terms or to be able to accept the tributes or adulation of colleagues and fans.

Lee Corso gets to experience that on Saturday.

Corso makes his final appearance as part of ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew before No. 3 and reigning national champion Ohio State hosts top-ranked Texas.

Since announcing his retirement earlier this year, Corso has received his share of acclaim and send-offs. He was honored at the ESPY Awards in July and received a standing ovation before boarding his flight in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday.

“It’s a gamut of different emotions. I’m trying to stay in the celebratory lane this weekend,” said GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who has sat next to Corso since 1996. “We don’t want to be emotional or sad when it’s his last show. We can be sad next week. But this weekend, we need to be celebrating him. Everything he’s meant to us and to the sport.”

Corso, who turned 90 on Aug. 7, has been a part of “GameDay” since its start in 1987 and has made pregame shows entertaining under a simple philosophy: “Football is just the vehicle. It’s entertainment, sweetheart.”

“Almost everyone, no matter what they accomplish in our industry, sort of gets dragged out boots first. They don’t really get a chance to say farewell,” GameDay host Rece Davis said on Friday after a production meeting. “I think it’s a real blessing that we’re able to give Lee his flowers on a day when he’s feeling great, doing great, and excited for a game.”

GameDay’s 26th appearance in Columbus also marks a full-circle moment for Corso. It was outside Ohio Stadium on Oct. 5, 1996, where Corso’s popular headgear prediction segment began.

Corso donned Brutus Buckeye’s head before Ohio State faced Penn State, and the rest is history.

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