A Southwest Airlines employee did right by Lee Corso before his final appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” at Ohio State on Saturday.
Corso, 90, received a warm welcome from fellow passengers after the Southwest gate attendant announced over the loud speaker that he was retiring on Saturday, as seen in a video on social media.
The gate attendant, who honored Corso in a speech about his legendary career, asked those waiting to board the flight to Columbus to stand and applaud Corso for his work before handing the analyst a bottle of champagne.
The former college football coach jokingly asked if he could open it up while on the plane.
“Not on the plane, but when you land,” the gate agent replied while other passengers were laughing.
“On November 18th, 2021, I saw Coach sitting in the Southwest area, and I asked him to give me this picture, and I have it right here,” the gate attendant recalled. “I’m going to present this to him, so that he always has it as a remembrance that he is boarding his last flight with Southwest to Columbus for ‘College GameDay.’ Coach started with ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ in October 1996, Lee Corso made his first headgear pick. A tradition he is famous for, and a game at Ohio Stadium.
“Coach has been married to his wife Betsy since 1957. He has four kids and ten grandchildren. Coach’s words on ‘College GameDay’ are ‘Not So Fast My Friend’. On behalf of us here at Southwest, we’d like to recognize coach, and if you’d please stand and give him a round of applause for everything he’s done for us.”
Corso was seen clapping in his chair.
He will make his final headgear pick during “College GameDay,” which airs at 9 a.m. ET, ahead of the Texas vs. Ohio State game.
Corso joined ESPN in 1987 and after 28 years as a coach at the college and professional levels, including 17 seasons as a head coach. He was an assistant for 11 seasons.
He is the only remaining original on-air personality on “College GameDay.”
Corso has been part of nine Sports Emmy Awards for “College GameDay.”