Lee Corso honored at ESPYS as he begins his farewell from 'College GameDay'

The countdown to Lee Corso's final appearance on ESPN's "College GameDay" kicked off when the longtime analyst and former coach was honored at the ESPYS on Wednesday night. "My goal on TV was to bring a smile to everybody's face. I hope I have done that," Corso said on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles after a video aired and comments by "GameDay" analysts Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee. Corso — the lone remaining member of the show's original cast who turns 90 in August — announced earlier this year that his final show would be on the opening week of the season. ESPN last month revealed the 39th season of "GameDay" would begin in Columbus, Ohio, before defending national champion Ohio State hosts the Texas Longhorns on Aug. 30. "This is a unique opportunity we have to weave him into the evening and really begin the process of sending him off with full honors," ESPN's president of content Burke Magnus said. "To get him there in person to acknowledge all of his contributions and what he's meant to both the company and sports, but more importantly the fans, we just think it's a fitting way to kick off his departure." Corso's popular headgear segment started at Ohio State on Oct. 5, 1996, before the Buckeyes faced Penn State. Since then, he has gone 286-144 in 430 selections wearing everything from helmets and mascot heads to dressing up as the Fighting Irish leprechaun from Notre Dame, the Stanford tree and historic figures James Madison and Benjamin Franklin. He has worn 69 different school's mascot headgear. Corso got to don Southern California's Trojan helmet one final time on Wednesday night as USC's band, song girls and spirit squad came on stage at the end of the segment. "I feel like I've had the best seat in all of college football for these last 30 years right next to coach, right before he pulled it the headgear out and say something that nobody else would say," Herbstreit said. "There's so many lessons and such a special bond I'm so lucky to share with one of the great spirits and great minds college football has ever seen." Corso's television career withstood a stroke in 2009 that left him unable to speak for a while. Even though his appearances on the road have decreased in recent seasons, he was in Atlanta in January for the College Football Playoff national title game between Ohio State and Notre Dame. "With the popularity and cultural phenomenon that 'GameDay' became, there's no one more responsible for that than Lee Corso. The way he changed the way the game was covered with the irreverence, the humor, the lack of a filter, all of those things that sort of set the tone and the standard," said "GameDay" host Rece Davis.