The Late Bobby Bowden

 Last week the great FSU football coach, Bobby Bowden, died. I never followed FSU or coach Bowden very closely, but I did quote him from time to time.

Coach Bowden spoke at First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, AL in the late 1980's. We were members of that congregation from 1984-1991, before my first Sabbatical. 

My most often used quote is Bowden's tale about proposing to his wife. Allegedly, it went like this.

"I proposed to my wife over the phone, because I couldn't be there in person. I said, 'Will you marry me?' and she said, 'Yes!, Who is this?'"

Of course I retell the story without attribution and use me and Brenda as the players.

His second big quote from the evening was about mentions of his retirement from FSU. He started coaching there in 1976 and didn't retire until 2009. I was pretty new in my professorship at UA, so retirement seemed a long way off then. But, in what seems a few short years since that night, I find myself retired from UA and working with Cru. So, Coach wasn't totally correct when he said,

 “After you retire, there's only one big event left....and I ain't ready for that.”

He died on 8 August, 2021 at age 91. I know he has a reputation as a committed Christian. I suspect he was ready.

How about you?