Those 20-30 minutes may as well have been hours.
Kirk Herbstreit recalled to US Magazine a recent meeting with former longtime “College Gameday” co-host Lee Corso in Orlando that had the two in tears.
Making it all the more special for Herbstreit is knowing the effort Corso, 91, put in to make it happen while “just going through some stuff.”
“We’d all be lucky to have such cognitive thinking at 91,” Herbstreit told the outlet Tuesday. “His eyes are sharp. He’s dialed in. He’s just going through some stuff that makes it tough on him.
“But 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.”
This season marked the first time since 1986 that the initial “College GameDay” broadcast did not feature Corso after he retired last August following the first show.
Herbstreit joined the ESPN marquee show in 1996 and the two developed a strong relationship that has lasted three decades.
Their recent meetup happened in Orlando after Corso learned that Herbstreit would be in the area and reached out to him to see if they could link up.
Herbstreit told US Magazine that Corso insisted he drive to meet his former colleague despite being roughly 30 minutes away, and the former Florida State star traveled through a thunderstorm.
Herbstreit noted that Corso has “a lot of physical ailments that he’s been dealing with, but his mind is incredible.”
“By the time I landed, there he is. We hugged, embraced. He was emotional because we haven’t seen each other in a while,” Herbstreit told the outlet. “When he cried, it made me cry. Because he’s my guy. We were able to hang out for probably 20 or 30 minutes and just kind of get caught up.”
“College GameDay” emanated from Baton Rouge for its first broadcast of the season ahead of LSU’s 51-10 win over Clemson in Lane Kiffin’s first game.
The college football-themed show will be in Austin for this week’s prized matchup featuring No. 4 Texas hosting No. 1 Ohio State.
