NFL Draft coverage on ABC this year features the popular ESPN College GameDay crew. GameDay regulars Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, and Maria Taylor were part of Thursday night’s first-round broadcast from Nashville, with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts serving as co-anchor.
And 83-year-old GameDay legend Lee Corso was also on the set, at least briefly.
After the 11th pick, Davis was in the middle of breaking down the draft, when he stopped and asked Corso, “Taking off on us?”
Corso replied, “Yeah I gotta go. I’ll see you guys.” Some handshakes followed, and Corso said, “I’ll see you guys in the fall.”
And just like that, Corso left the set for the night. No reason was given for the exit.
If you didn’t think Lee Corso was a boss before, he zipped his belongings up and left the broadcast pic.twitter.com/Z88fnib5Dg
— Collin Wilson (@_Collin1) April 26, 2019
You’ll also notice in the video that Corso mentions “Haskins!” multiple times before walking off. Before the Arizona Cardinals made the first overall pick and selected Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray, Corso put on a massive head of Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, like he does with mascot heads when making picks on GameDay.
https://twitter.com/awNEPats/status/1121570377451360256
Haskins would end up going to the Washington Redskins with the 15th pick.
But back to Corso’s abrupt exit- Twitter had a lot to say about it.
They have got to take Lee Corso off TV. Man can barely speak anymore
— Seth (@yoloSwaggiins) April 25, 2019
Me watching Lee Corso awkwardly and abruptly leave the College Gameday set pic.twitter.com/PBDECoWeio
— Dro (@72_Woodrow) April 26, 2019
Man, I hate to say it but Corso is struggling. #sad #NFLDraft
— Grant H (@DeacsWin) April 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/WGrayMcDowell1/status/1121569129998237699
Does Lee corso just get to leave whenever he wants? #NFLDraft
— Brandon Watson (@TheWatsonBrand) April 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/Bmendlik/status/1121569101791531011
Is Corso having a stroke on live tv.
— Skeens (@basedSKEENS) April 25, 2019
It will be interesting to see if an explanation is provided for Corso’s exit (like, was it planned, and at that exact time in the middle of a broadcast?), and if he’s on any additional draft coverage over the weekend.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.