Submitted by Cynthia Walker Burton

My daughter, Shannon, and I met Coach Bobby Bowden of Florida State University her sophomore year of high school at a meet and greet in Destin, Florida. We also had the distinct privilege of meeting his sons: Terry, Tommy, Steve and Jeff, and later, his wife, Ann. Shannon decided right then and there that she would attend FSU. She officially became a part of the Garnet and Gold Nation – the Seminoles – in 2005. One of the nine academic scholarships Shannon received was the Blount/Bowden Scholarship. We not only thanked Coach Bowden in person, but continued conversing with him until Shannon’s 2009 graduation. His scholarship contributed handsomely to her college financial situation, to the extent that she attended FSU literally debt free; a godsend for this single mother.

Coach Bowden and I continued our family-style, friendly letter exchanges until his retirement from college football in late 2009. When I wrote asking him his plans for retirement, he replied frankly, “I’m excited to see what the good Lord has in store for me.”

Bobby Bowden passed away August 8, 2021, at the age of 91 from pancreatic cancer surrounded by family. He was not only a man of faith, family and football, he generously paved a very bright future for many FSU students like my daughter, Dr. Shannon Burton Fletcher. Touchdown, Coach! Touchdown!