ESPN personality Kirk Herbstreit has shared a concerning update on the health of his longtime friend and former College GameDay co-star Lee Corso. Herbstreit met with Corso, 91, recently in Orlando, Florida, and described the college football legend as facing "a lot of physical ailments."
Corso, who was a fixture on ESPN's College GameDay since its debut in 1987, retired from the program at the end of last season. His absence was noted during the first episode of the current season, which aired from LSU.
"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."
Herbstreit recounted an emotional reunion, stating Corso insisted on picking him up from the airport. "When he cried, it made me cry," Herbstreit said. "Because he's my guy. We were able to hang out for probably 20 or 30 minutes and just kind of get caught up."
Despite the physical challenges, Herbstreit emphasized Corso's mental acuity remains sharp. "He's got a lot of physical ailments that he's been dealing with, but his mind is incredible," Herbstreit noted. "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."
Herbstreit added that Corso remains engaged with the sport, possessing opinions on teams and players. "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 previously suffered a stroke in 2009, which impacted his cognitive abilities and speech. His health has led to missed appearances in past seasons, including five shows in 2022, and he had not been featured for the full duration of the program in recent years. He also opted to watch the CFP National Championship game from home in January due to travel difficulties.