This year has seen a lot of discussion about Lee Corso on ESPN’s College GameDay. Corso, 87, returned to GameDay in person beginning last year after contributing from home throughout the 2020 season, but he’s missed the last two weeks with an unspecified illness. On Friday, though, ESPN PR posted a photo of Corso in GameDay meetings, with a caption that he’ll be on set (in Knoxville, ahead of Alabama–Tennessee) Saturday:
It’s great to have Coach Lee Corso back with the @CollegeGameDay crew this weekend in Knoxville
From Friday morning’s production meeting, gearing up for show prep with coordinating producer @drewgallagher
📸 @ESPNImages pic.twitter.com/isfjfcibmG
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 14, 2022
This makes sense, as the GameDay crew did indicate on-air last week that Corso would likely return this week:
Lee Corso is missing his second week in a row of College Gameday because of illness. The rest of the crew are optimistic he will return next week. pic.twitter.com/hrdh5va4JY
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 8, 2022
But it’s still certainly notable that that’s now happening. Corso has been part of College GameDay since its 1987 beginnings, including with the fateful 1993 decision to take it on the road each week. ESPN also found ways to accommodate Corso following a 2009 stroke. In 2016, around the 20th anniversary of his first donning a mascot head, Corso spoke to AA about how much joy he was still getting from being on GameDay:
“Are you kidding me? You don’t last this long in television! I’ve been there about 27 years and it’s amazing. But again, you’ve got to remember, at the time I was in the most need, ESPN was at its best. Because the stroke affected my speech and I could hardly talk, and I eventually got back to talking and they stuck with me.”
It’s cool to see Corso able to return to the set this week. And he’s one of several older ESPN figures who have been able to continue in prominent roles, including Hubie Brown and Dick Vitale. We’ll see how Corso’s return goes for him and for GameDay.
[ESPN PR on Twitter]
