Funeral services announced for Florida State legend Bobby Bowden

Funeral services for legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will be Saturday at the Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Florida. Bowden’s funeral services will be streamed live on Seminoles.com at 11 a.m. ET., according to Stadium’s Brett McMurphy.

Funeral service for former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will be Saturday at the Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee & will be streamed live on https://t.co/BiBDwmCNFd at 11 a.m. ET

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) August 10, 2021

Bowden died Sunday at the age of 91. He announced on July 21 that he had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Florida State confirmed that Bobby Bowden passed at 5:08 a.m. on Sunday morning with his wife Ann and all six of his children by his side.

“I’ve always tried to serve God’s purpose for my life, on and off the field, and I am prepared for what is to come,” Bowden said when he announced his diagnosis. “My wife, Ann, and our family have been life’s greatest blessing. I am at peace.”

Bowden is survived by his wife of 51 years, Ann; sons Terry, Tommy, Jeff and Steve; and daughters Robyn Hines and Ginger Madden.

Bobby Bowden on his legacy

In 2009, Mike Freeman wrote BOWDEN – How Bobby Bowden Forged a College Football Dynasty. In it, Bowden details how he wants people to remember him.

“A lot of people in the past have asked me what about my legacy,” Bowden shared with Freeman.  “I’ve said this and that and I don’t like talking about it all that much, but I answer the question the best I can.  I want people to say, ‘He was one of the best.’ Not the best.  Just one of the best.  I want people to say I didn’t cheat.  We made some mistakes here, but I never had a win-at-all-costs mentality.  We had that dadgum Free Shoes University thing, but we didn’t know what the players were doing and anyone who says we did isn’t telling the truth. 

He continued: “I would’ve rather lost than be seen as a guy who won and cheated.  I guess I want my legacy to be we won and we mostly won the right way, and along the way, people had fun, and I treated people with respect and decency.  I was something Florida State could be proud of.  They’d say, ‘That dadgum Bowden was a good guy.’  That’s how I hope I’ll be remembered.”

Bobby Bowden’s resume is unrivaled in Tallahassee

Bobby Bowden amassed a 315-98-4 record during his 34-year tenure in Tallahassee. When he took over at Florida State, the team had gone 4-29 in its previous three seasons. By his second year, they won 10 games. Over the next 14 years leading up to FSU’s ACC debut, they won at least nine games nine times. When they joined their new conference, then-ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan commented how valuable they had become in the college football world.

“Their football team had more national television exposure last year than all our teams had together,” Corrigan said.

Not only did Bowden turn the Seminoles into a competitive program, but he twice reached the pinnacle of college football, winning national titles in 1993 and 1999. Bobby Bowden was became a College Football Hall of Fame member in 2006 before retiring in 2009.

Image courtesy of Emilee Chinn/Getty Images