FSU football legend Bobby Bowden’s death touches inside and outside the sports world
As some Sunday mornings started with hearing that former longtime Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden had died at 91, many folks testified via social media about what Bowden meant to them.
Football folks., used-to-be football folks, political folks, media folks, even a bank spoke reverently of the man who made Florida State football a program that perennially had something to say about who won the perennial national championship.
Former Florida State linebacker Derrick Brooks, who went on to a Hall of Fame NFL career, Tweeted, “Thank God for my relationship with Coach Bowden! I am so grateful to play for Coach Bowden. He built into our spirits ”Faith, Family, Football” in that order! I will miss him and I hope to honor his legacy with how I live my life. RIP Coach B!”
Another future college and pro football Hall of Famer, cornerback and kick returner Deion Sanders (1985-88). It was at Florida State that Sanders first donned gold chains and his “Prime Time” alter ego that bothered Bowden’s chronological peers more than the coach himself (although Bowden did get criticized for Sanders’ senior season classroom attendance).
Now the head coach at Jackson State, Sanders wrote on Instagram, “I’ve lost one of the BEST COACHES I’ve ever had, a man of God and a true Father Figure when most young men arrived on college campuses without the love, affection and correction of a father. Love you 4Ever Coach Bowden.”
Brooks would spend his entire NFL career playing in Tampa Bay, exactly half of it with Tony Dungy as head coach. Though quintessential say-a-lot-without-saying-a-lot coach who rarely raised his voice, Dungy wasn’t shy about the role his Christian faith played in his life, similar to Bowden.
“Coach Bowden impacted an entire generation of players, coaches, and fans with his teaching, his class and his faith,” Dungy Tweeted. “His impact will be felt for years to come by the mark he left on everyone he touched.”
Bowden’s last five seasons at Florida State ran concurrent with the first five of Urban Meyer’s six seasons at Florida.
“Today, we lost a legend. Bobby was a great friend and mentor to me, and his impact transcended the coaching profession in so many ways. Sending love to Ann and the entire Bowden family. Rest In Peace Coach Bowden.”
Current University of Miami coach Manny Diaz Tweeted, “Coach Bowden, Thank you for showing this young coach how to lead a program with the Christ-like principles of selflessness, grace, and humility. You won a ton of games but transformed countless more lives, including mine. Rest In Peace in God’s eternity.”
Unlike Brooks and Sanders, Wayne Messam’s Florida State football career earned no Halls of Fame or Heisman Trophy consideration. But it paid for his college education. After catching 62 passes for 793 yards and four touchdowns in four seasons, Messam earned his degree. He’s now Miramar Mayor Wayne Messam.
Messam Tweeted “Coach Bobby Bowden for every hug after a TD, for every Pregame Bible verse devotion, for every 2nd & 3rd chance you gave, for every motivational speech, for every one of my teammates you recruited, for every phone call to ask me to be a Seminole, I thank you! Rest In Peace.”
Bowden was born, raised and educated in Alabama, but spent 48 of his last 58 years in north Florida (a purely geographical difference). He became one of those coaches more identified with where he walked the sidelines than where he originated.
“Bobby Bowden was a great coach and an even better human being,” Florida attorney general Ashley Moody said. “He touched so many lives and made Floridians proud—he was our own. My heart goes out to his family, former players and fans across our state.”
U.S. Senator Rick Scott Tweeted, “Florida & @floridastate have lost a legend. Ann & I are so sad to learn of Coach Bowden’s passing & are praying for Ann Bowden & their family. A man of deep faith & outstanding leader, his legacy will live on in the hearts & actions of countless students, coaches & young leaders.”
For simple eloquence on Bowden’s death, Capital City Bank achieved the most with the least with its Sunday morning Instagram post in Florida State’s garnet and gold against a black background: “Dadgum It. 1929-2021.”
