Kirk Herbstreit shares behind-the-scenes story of Lee Corso’s first-ever headgear pick
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Kirk Herbstreit has revealed some interesting details about Lee Corso’s first-ever headgear pick for College GameDay.
The revelation came during a 1-hour tribute special for Corso that ESPN aired on Friday evening. Corso’s legendary run on GameDay is set to come to an end next week as the show travels to Columbus, Ohio, for Ohio State vs. Texas.
Fittingly, Corso’s last headgear selection will come in the same place as his first.
According to Herbstreit, Corso got the idea to put on ‘Brutus’ a few days before GameDay was on location in Columbus for Ohio State vs. Penn State in October of 1996. Herbstreit’s wife, Alison, was a cheerleader for Ohio State at the time. Corso asked Herbstreit to talk to Allison about getting approval to wear Brutus during the show.
Herbstreit said that request was initially denied by Ohio State’s cheer coach, but an appeal to the athletic director on Friday before the game eventually worked.
“History was made,” Corso says in the video below.
That’s perhaps an understatement. Corso’s headgear pick became a weekly staple and a powerful tradition for perhaps the most influential sports pregame show in television history. In the decades since, Corso has made 430 headgear picks on College GameDay. To make it even more impressive — ESPN says Corso has been right more than 66% of the time.
Here’s a clip from ESPN’s tribute to Corso featuring the story of his first headgear selection:
Corso will make his final appearance on the show on Saturday, Aug. 30 in Columbus.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
