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ESPYs pay emotional tribute to Lee Corso with USC band, Kirk Herbstreit, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•07/17/25•

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Lee Corso
Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

One month before his final appearance on College GameDay, Lee Corso was recognized at the ESPYS on Wednesday. ESPN paid tribute to the icon with a video, as well as a performance from the USC marching band with Kirk Herbstreit, Pat McAfee and Desmond Howard on stage with him.

Corso announced his retirement earlier this summer, but still has one more show to do. College GameDay will be in Columbus Week 1 for the high-profile matchup between Ohio State and Texas. It’s appropriate, too, considering Brutus was the first mascot head Corso donned on the show.

From there, his 38-year TV career will come to an end. Corso thanked ESPN for Wednesday night’s tribute, and he smiled from ear to ear when the USC band came out to play the College GameDay song.

“I’m honored to be here tonight,” Corso told the crowd at the Dolby Theatre. “I want to thank ESPN for this tribute and opportunity to do a job that I’ve loved for 38 years. My goal on TV was to bring a smile to everybody’s face. I hope I’ve done that. My wife, Betsy, and I have been married for 69 years. And I just wanted to thank her for loving me and allowing me to love her for all of those years.

“Thank you very much, ESPN, for this honor [and] tribute, and I appreciate everybody here. Thank you very much.”

While announcing Corso’s retirement, ESPN said it has special programming planned for the days leading up to the Week 1 matchup. It marks the end of an era for College GameDay with its last remaining original panelist leaving. Herbstreit didn’t join the show until 1995.

“My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and College GameDay for nearly 40 years,” Corso said in the announcement. “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.”

Lee Corso will turn 90 years old next month. He has dealt with his share of health issues over the years and missed shows during the last two seasons as a result. But he’d still return to the desk when he was able, but he’ll now get ready to sign off for the final time Aug. 30.

“Just like Charles Barkley is to the TNT show, Lee has been that for us,” Herbstreit said. “I feel like to do good, quality studio television, not everybody can be the same. You need people who bring something a little bit different to the show. Lee was kind of that guy like Charles is to that show. As time has gone on, Lee’s getting older. I’ve always thought about, ‘what are we gonna do without Lee? How is our show gonna be a show without Lee?’”