BREAKING NEWS: REMEMBERING LEE CORSO’S FIRST HEADGEAR PICK — OHIO STATE
IN THE WORLD OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL SATURDAY TRADITIONS, FEW MOMENTS ARE AS ICONIC AS LEE CORSO’S HEADGEAR PICK. OVER THE YEARS, THE LEGENDARY ESPN ANALYST HAS DONNED COUNTLESS MASCOT HEADS TO CAP OFF “COLLEGE GAMEDAY” BROADCASTS. BUT AS THE SHOW CELEBRATES DECADES ON THE AIR, FANS AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORIANS ARE REFLECTING ON A PARTICULARLY SPECIAL MOMENT: LEE CORSO’S FIRST-EVER HEADGEAR PICK — OHIO STATE.
THE DATE WAS OCTOBER 5, 1996. “COLLEGE GAMEDAY” WAS BROADCASTING LIVE FROM COLUMBUS, OHIO, AHEAD OF A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED MATCHUP BETWEEN THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES AND PENN STATE. AT THE TIME, THE SHOW WAS JUST GAINING TRACTION AS A CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS, AND LEE CORSO WAS STILL EXPERIMENTING WITH WAYS TO MAKE HIS FINAL PICK STAND OUT.
THAT MORNING, AFTER A DEEP-DIVE ANALYSIS AND A COUPLE OF JOKES, CORSO SURPRISED EVERYONE. AS CHRIS FOWLER SET HIM UP FOR HIS FINAL CALL, CORSO REACHED UNDER THE DESK AND PULLED OUT BRUTUS BUCKEYE’S HEAD — MASSIVE, SMILING, AND INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE. IN FRONT OF A ROARING COLUMBUS CROWD, HE PLACED IT ON HIS HEAD AND RAISED HIS ARMS IN TRIUMPH. THE FANS WENT WILD. A NEW TRADITION WAS BORN.
THE CHOICE WAS FITTING. OHIO STATE WAS A POWERHOUSE TEAM THAT SEASON, AND THE BUCKEYES DOMINATED PENN STATE 38-7. BUT MORE THAN JUST A PREDICTION, CORSO’S HEADGEAR MOVE BECAME A DEFINING MOMENT FOR “COLLEGE GAMEDAY” — ONE THAT TURNED A PREDICTION SEGMENT INTO MUST-SEE TELEVISION.
REFLECTING ON THAT MOMENT IN RECENT INTERVIEWS, CORSO HAS SAID, “I HAD NO IDEA IT WOULD BECOME SUCH A BIG DEAL. I JUST WANTED TO DO SOMETHING FUN FOR THE FANS. OHIO STATE WAS THE PERFECT PLACE TO START.”
SINCE THEN, HE’S WORN THE HEADS OF HUNDREDS OF MASCOTS — FROM RIVAL POWERHOUSES TO SMALL SCHOOL FAVORITES. BUT FOR MANY LONGTIME VIEWERS, THAT FIRST PICK STILL STANDS OUT AS ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE. OHIO STATE FANS IN PARTICULAR HOLD IT CLOSE, PROUD THAT BRUTUS WAS THE MASCOT TO KICK OFF A BELOVED GAMEDAY RITUAL.
AS LEE CORSO CONTINUES TO GRACE OUR SCREENS IN HIS TWILIGHT YEARS ON THE SHOW, HIS LEGACY IS SECURED — AND IT ALL STARTED WITH A SMILING BUCKEYE IN 1996.
AND THAT’S WHY, TODAY, WE REMEMBER — THE FIRST HEADGEAR PICK. THE START OF A TRADITION. AND OF COURSE… GO BUCKS.
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