For 40 seasons, ESPN’s College GameDay has helped define Saturday mornings during college football season, bringing fans, campuses, and communities together while celebrating the traditions that make the sport unique. This season marks two major milestones for the show: its 40th season and its 500th show on the road.
Few people have witnessed the show’s evolution as closely as Desmond Howard. A Heisman Trophy winner, Super Bowl MVP, College Football Hall of Famer, and member of the College GameDay team since 2005, Howard has spent more than two decades traveling from campus to campus each fall and helping tell the stories behind the game.
As Howard reflects on the anniversary season, he points to the people behind the show as the reason for its lasting success.
“From the moment I joined the show, one of the first things I noticed was how the stewards of the show took such great care of the product,” Howard said. “And when I realized that right out the gate, my whole goal was to try to get in where I could fit in and not mess up their chemistry, because I thought that they had magical chemistry on air, and I just wanted to be a part of the magic.”
More than 20 years later, Howard sees that same spirit at work across the show. While the team has evolved over time, he believes the commitment to preserving what makes College GameDay special has remained remarkably consistent.
“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been able to bring in and acquire others who are committed and dedicated to taking care of the product just like the people who were involved when I first joined the show,” he said.
More Than the People on Camera
For fans, College GameDay is known for its cast of analysts, reporters, and hosts. For Howard, the show’s success has always been a team effort.
“It’s more than just the on-air talent,” Howard said. “The producers, directors, and the entire behind the scenes team take great care of the product.”
Howard credits much of the show’s staying power to the people who have helped shape its culture over the years. Among them are two figures who have been synonymous with College GameDay for decades and have helped establish the standards that continue to guide the program today.
“For the longest time and still to this day, you’ve had two of the major players who have been a part of the whole thing, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit.”
Their influence goes beyond what viewers see on Saturday mornings, Howard said.
“It stems from their love of the game, their passion for college football,” he explained. “For Lee Corso, it’s just infectious when you’re around him, you can’t help but to fall in line and act accordingly as far as whatever’s needed to make College GameDay successful.”
That continuity has helped College GameDay remain one of sports television’s most recognizable programs. The show enters its 40th season following its most-viewed season ever and its third consecutive Sports Emmy® win for Outstanding Weekly Sports Studio Show. Over the years, College GameDay has earned 17 Sports Emmy Awards, traveled to 82 schools across 39 states, and grown from its first on-campus broadcast in 1993 to this season’s landmark 500th road show.
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Continuing a Lifelong Connection to the Game
Long before he joined the GameDay desk, Howard made his mark as one of college football’s most dynamic players at the University of Michigan, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1991 before going on to an 11-year NFL career. He remains the only special teams player to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.
Today, College GameDay gives him another way to stay connected to the sport.
“I really do love the fact that I’m able to still be a part of the game that I love and that has given me so much,” he said.
One of the most memorable moments of Howard’s playing career came after Super Bowl XXXI, when he joined the roster of athletes who have taken part in Disney’s iconic “I’m going to Disney World!” tradition. The moment marked the culmination of a football journey that had taken him from the University of Michigan to the NFL’s biggest stage. Like many fans, Howard had watched the postgame celebration for years before finding himself at the center of it.
“To be a part of the tradition that we all have seen after the Super Bowl, when they start to play the highlights of the MVP in slow motion, and then they play that magical song, and at the end they ask that player, ‘Hey, now that you won Super Bowl, what are you going to do?’”
For Howard, the experience marked a full-circle moment. The tradition he had watched for years as a fan was now one he was part of.
And then obviously they have that player, still in the stadium, still in his uniform, saying, ‘I’m going to Disney World!’ I’m very humbled and honored to be a part of it.
Bringing Excitement to Every Campus
Since taking its first road show on the road in 1993, College GameDay has visited dozens of campuses across the country, turning game weekends into destination events for students, alumni, and fans. The show’s 500th road appearance this season serves as the latest milestone in that journey.
Howard has seen firsthand how much excitement the show creates on each stop.
“When it’s announced that we’re going to show up at a campus for a big game, I know, I’ve seen it, I’ve heard about it, and it adds another layer of excitement to that game and to that weekend, too,” he said.
That excitement is fueled by the fans who show up before sunrise, rain or shine, week after week.
“The fans give us the energy,” Howard said. “They give us the juice.”
And creating a memorable experience for those fans remains an important part of the show’s mission.
Howard said, “There’s a lot of care that goes into the planning of the show — not just the show [itself], but everything around the show — because we want to make sure that everyone is able to have a pleasant, wonderful experience that they want to tell their friends and families about.”
