Southwest Airlines Gate Agent Delivers Emotional Tribute To Lee Corso Ahead Of His Final Flight To ‘College GameDay’

One last trip.

For the last 38 years, Lee Corso has spent his fall weekends flying around the country for College GameDay. The former coach has been a fixture on GameDay since it first debuted back in 1987, and has become an iconic part of college football Saturdays with his comedic analysis and famous headgear predictions.

Corso suffered a stroke back in back in 2009 that has forced him to scale back his work on GameDay, though he’s continued to appear on the show thanks to some assistance from his fellow panelists like Kirk Herbstreit.

But earlier this year, Corso announced that he would be stepping back from GameDay, putting on the headgear for the final time this weekend in Columbus, Ohio for the matchup between Ohio State and Texas.

Obviously there will be plenty of tributes to the legendary Lee Corso on Saturday during his final College GameDay. But before Coach boarded his flight to Columbus, the gate agent for Southwest Airlines took a minute to pay tribute to the college football legend with an emotional tribute:

“On November 18, 2021, I saw a coach sitting in the Southwest gate area, and I asked him to give me this picture, and I have it right here. And I’m going to present this to him so he always has it as a remembrance that he is boarding his last flight on Southwest to Columbus to see you guys at College Game Day.

Coach started ESPN College Game Day since his debut in 1987. In October 1996, Lee Corso made his first headgear pick, a tradition he is famous for, at a game in Ohio Stadium. Coach is married to his wife, Betsy, since 1957. He has four kids and ten grandchildren.

Coach’s words on College Game Day are, “not so fast, my friend.”

On behalf of us here at Southwest, we’d like to recognize Coach, if everyone can please stand and give a round of applause for everything he’s done for us. Thank you.”

The employee also presented Corso with a bottle of champagne, but told him that he couldn’t drink it on the plane – although I’d hate to be the flight attendant who had to tell Corso that he wasn’t allowed to pop his champagne bottle on the way to his last College GameDay.

@fishsauce0515

We love you Coach!! Shout out to @Southwest Airlines for honoring this legend! @College GameDay @Kirk Herbstreit @Barstool Sports @Ohio State Football #leecorso #coach #collegegameday #ohiostatefootball

♬ original sound – Felicia Homish

Even though he’s slowed down quite a bit in recent years, it’s safe to say that College GameDay will be drastically different without Coach Corso’s wit and famous headgear picks. It’s truly the end of an era, and while there will be plenty of well-deserved tributes on GameDay during the games this weekend, it’s nice to see that even the airline employees who have served him over the years are paying tribute to the college football legend.The post Southwest Airlines Gate Agent Delivers Emotional Tribute To Lee Corso Ahead Of His Final Flight To ‘College GameDay’ first appeared on Whiskey Riff.