TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Mark Richt, the former Florida State offensive coordinator turned Georgia head coach, went first to the podium. Then Ron Simmons, the first great player Bobby Bowden recruited here.
There was Tom Osborne, former Nebraska coach, and Burt Reynolds, FSU luminary, and Chris Weinke, Heisman Trophy winner and national champion with the Seminoles.
They had come for a Tallahassee Quarterback Club roast of Bowden, the longtime FSU coach. They had come to tell jokes and one-liners and make people laugh. There was some of that Wednesday night in a packed banquet room attached to one end of Doak Campbell Stadium.
But the crowd of 600 also heard a serious tone from the speakers.
In his opening comments, Richt set the theme when he said, “I'm having a very hard time roasting a man who next to my father has been the most influential man in my life.”
Simmons, who grew up fatherless, talked about what Bowden had meant in his life. Osborne reflected about how, in Bowden's early days at FSU, he wasn't afraid to build his program by going on the road to play the best — including Osborne's teams at Nebraska.
Bowden brought his Seminoles to Lincoln on Oct. 4, 1980, and No. 16-ranked FSU left with a shocking 18-14 victory over No. 3-ranked NU. Bowden often has referred to that victory at Memorial Stadium as his best win during his 33 years as FSU's coach.
Osborne's Huskers avenged the loss in 1981, winning 34-14 over the No. 19 Seminoles in Lincoln. But when No. 17-ranked Florida State visited Lincoln in the season-opening game in 1985, FSU pulled a 17-13 stunner over the No. 10-ranked Huskers.
In 1986, No. 8 Nebraska defeated No. 11 FSU 34-17 in Lincoln.
Bowden's Seminoles then pulled off bowl victories over Osborne's teams on Jan. 1, 1988 (31-28 in the Fiesta Bowl), on Jan. 1, 1990 (41-17 in the Fiesta Bowl), on Jan. 1, 1993 (27-14 in the Orange Bowl) and on Jan. 1, 1994 (18-16 in the Orange Bowl).
Some observers said Osborne got in the best zingers. Osborne came out swinging with an oldie but a goodie.
“You can tell from looking that Bobby and I are getting on in life, getting a little older,” Osborne said. “This was driven home to me a little while ago. A lady came up to Bobby, and she said, ‘My goodness. Drinking makes you look so much better.' He said, ‘Ma'am, I'll have you know, I'm not drinking.' She said, ‘No. I am.'”
Osborne made Weinke laugh so hard that he almost fell off the dais.
Another Osborne zinger involved Bowden's visit to a nursing home. The punch line? “Go to the front desk, and they'll tell you who you are.”
Of course, Bowden gave as good as he got. Turning to Osborne, Bowden recalled a conversation with an official that may or may not have happened during a Fiesta Bowl against the Huskers. Bowden said the official came to the sideline to inform Bowden that Osborne, on the other sideline, had been complaining all game that the Seminoles were cheating. “Tom,” Bowden said, “it's just called the forward pass.”
Reynolds, the FSU alum who was once one of the biggest box-office draws anywhere, told stories about his travels around the world and how people don't want to know so much about Hollywood, but about Bowden.
And Weinke, who in 1999 led FSU to Bowden's second national championship, told about coming back to Tallahassee and playing golf with Bowden.
Some of the best came from video tributes from Texas coach Mack Brown, retired coach Lou Holtz and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. The Sooners coach apologized for beating Bowden's team in the 2000 national championship game.
Holtz set up his punch line by saying how he wished he could have made it in person.
“Steve Spurrier told me everyone who goes to Florida State gets free shoes, and I sure could use some,” Holtz said, referring to FSU's infamous Foot Locker scandal of the 1990s and Free Shoes University moniker that followed it.
And there were plenty of one-liners about Bowden, 79, forgetting names and his age.
Richt joked that Bowden might not have known who he was even when he was the Seminoles' offensive coordinator.
Richt told the tale of his decision in 1986 to become a born-again Christian. Richt made the choice at a time of great turmoil, and Bowden was thrilled to help Richt into the flock. So the men went into Bowden's office and kneeled to pray. According to Richt, Bowden did the talking with the almighty. “Dear Lord,” Richt remembered Bowden saying, “I'm here with ... What's your name again, buddy?”
And Reynolds said, “I always marveled at the fact that he always knew my name: Buddy ... then I found out everybody was ‘Buddy.”'
There were plenty of laughs, but the loudest applause might have come when Weinke acknowledged that the NCAA might vacate as many as 14 of Bowden's wins because of an academic cheating scandal.
“It doesn't matter what the NCAA says,” Weinke said. “To me, Coach Bowden will always be the winningest coach in college football.”
They cheered long and loud for Osborne and Reynolds and Weinke but only one man received a standing ovation.
It came at the end, after Bowden said to the crowd, “I didn't expect this many people ... I have really enjoyed it. Thank you.”
- This article includes material from SI.com.
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