Florida State University

‘He’s like a family member.’ FSU fans pay tribute to coach Bobby Bowden outside stadium

By KIrby Wilson Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE

At 12:15 p.m. on a sweltering Tallahassee day, Kristin Tetsworth inched her way past the hedges that surround the bronze, 9-foot statue of Bobby Bowden outside Doak Campbell Stadium.

She sized up the available real estate. There wasn’t much space left in front of the coach. Eventually, she found an opening just big enough for the old orange juice bottle she was using as a vase.

Her tribute stood taller than the rest. A shock of red, she said, because it was from the heart.

It was only a few hours after the news of Bowden’s death hit the Florida State University community. There was no plan for a public show of support for the beloved coach. But dozens of FSU fans like Tetsworth came to the statue on Sunday anyway, as though summoned by the gravitational force of their loss.

“He’s changed lives for people. He deserves respect. It’s just what you do,” said Tetsworth, who said she graduated from FSU in 1976 — the year Bowden took over the football program. “He’s like a family member.”

At the statue, families gathered for a silent communion with Bowden. Fathers brought sons. Wives brought husbands. Solemn individuals took photos of the makeshift memorial. Some took a moment to read the plaques that surround the statue. Some wept. Everyone wore Seminole garnet.

In this Jan. 1, 2010, file photo, Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden is carried on the shoulders of his players after their 33-21 win over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl NCAA college football game in Jacksonville, Fla. Bowden, the folksy Hall of Fame coach who built Florida State into an unprecedented college football dynasty, has died. He was 91. Bobby’s son, Terry, confirmed to The Associated Press that his father died at home in Tallahassee, Fla., surrounded by family early Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021.
In this Jan. 1, 2010, file photo, Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden is carried on the shoulders of his players after their 33-21 win over West Virginia in the Gator Bowl NCAA college football game in Jacksonville, Fla. Bowden, the folksy Hall of Fame coach who built Florida State into an unprecedented college football dynasty, has died. He was 91. Bobby’s son, Terry, confirmed to The Associated Press that his father died at home in Tallahassee, Fla., surrounded by family early Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021. Bob Self AP

Anna Irwin wiped away a tear while her husband, David, placed an assortment of roses near Coach Bowden. She wasn’t there to honor Bowden’s stellar coaching resume. She was there out of deference for the figure Bowden represented to her off the field.

“He changed so many lives through his faith,” Anna Irwin said of Bowden, an outspoken Christian. “He used his position to help save people.”

In this Sept. 24, 2004, file photo, Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, lower right, speaks to the crowd following the unveiling of a statue in his likeness in front of the Florida State athletic department in Tallahassee, Fla. Bowden, the folksy Hall of Fame coach who built Florida State into an unprecedented college football dynasty, has died. He was 91. Bobby’s son, Terry, confirmed to The Associated Press that his father died at home in Tallahassee, Fla., surrounded by family early Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021.
In this Sept. 24, 2004, file photo, Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, lower right, speaks to the crowd following the unveiling of a statue in his likeness in front of the Florida State athletic department in Tallahassee, Fla. Bowden, the folksy Hall of Fame coach who built Florida State into an unprecedented college football dynasty, has died. He was 91. Bobby’s son, Terry, confirmed to The Associated Press that his father died at home in Tallahassee, Fla., surrounded by family early Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021. PHIL COALE AP

Many spoke of what Bowden meant to Tallahassee. Although he won national acclaim for his success in America’s most popular sport, he was, by many accounts, a man about town.

Jimmy Lovelady and his wife, Jennifer, had errands to run Sunday. But Jimmy had never known life in his city without Coach Bowden. When Lovelady learned about his death, he said he added one stop to his to-do list.

Bowden might be gone, but there was still a time and a place to remember him.

“We got Bobby right here,” said Jimmy Lovelady, pointing at the statute.

This story was originally published August 8, 2021 at 3:23 PM with the headline "‘He’s like a family member.’ FSU fans pay tribute to coach Bobby Bowden outside stadium."

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