ESPN star Kirk Herbstreit shares concerning health update on Lee Corso after legend’s College GameDay retirement
ESPN star Kirk Herbstreit has given a worrying update on the health of his close friend Lee Corso, the legendary former College GameDay star.
Corso, 91, was part of ESPN’s iconic program since it debuted in 1987, delighting fans with his donning of headgear each week and trademark sense of humor.
But he walked away from the program at the end of last season and his presence was missed during this year’s first episode, which was broadcast from LSU last week.
Herbstreit, who has been a College GameDay panelist since 1996 and commentates on college football for ESPN and the NFL for Amazon Prime, revealed he recently met up with Corso in Orlando.
But Herbstreit also revealed Corso is dealing with ‘a lot of physical ailments’ and he’s ‘going through some stuff’ at the moment.
‘I was doing an appearance down in Orlando maybe two or three weeks ago and he used to do this appearance for 25 years,’ Herbstreit told Us Magazine. ‘It’s down right in his neck of the woods. He found out I was going to be down there and he asked if we could connect.’
ESPN star Kirk Herbstreit has given a worrying update on the health of his friend Lee Corso
Corso (second right), 91, was part of ESPN’s iconic College GameDay since it debuted in 1987
Herbstreit made the revelations on Corso’s health after recently meeting with him in Orlando
Herbstreit revealed Corso insisted that he pick him up from the airport and the pair shared an emotional embrace when they reunited.
He continued: ‘By the time I landed, there he is. We hugged, embraced. He was emotional because we haven’t seen each other in a while.
‘When he cried, it made me cry. Because he’s my guy. We were able to hang out for probably 20 or 30 minutes and just kind of get caught up.’
Herbstreit then shared that Corso has ‘a lot of physical ailments that he’s been dealing with, but his mind is incredible.’
‘We’d all be lucky to have such cognitive thinking at 91. His eyes are sharp. He’s dialed in. He’s just going through some stuff that makes it tough on him.
‘But he knows about teams. He knows about players. He’s got opinions. I just sat there and listened and loved hearing him talk about that. He’s great. I told him that everybody loves him, everybody misses him. He feels that love, so it’s always good to see him.’
Corso suffered a stroke in 2009, which affected his cognitive abilities and speech.
His health issues caused him to miss shows in previous years, namely five during the 2022 season, and he hadn’t been featured during the full three hours of the program in recent years.
Corso also skipped the CFP National Championship game in January when his beloved Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Miami Hurricanes. He opted to watch the game from home due to the difficulties he now faces while traveling.
