After the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal of 2011, Florida State celebrated a small victory in the midst of a disgusting situation. All 111 wins accumulated by Joe Paterno between 1998-2011 were stripped, making Coach Bobby Bowden the winningest coach in Division 1 college football history. Until now.
Friday afternoon, the NCAA reinstated all of Paterno’s wins as a part of the settlement of a lawsuit against the NCAA. Joe Paterno became the new/old leader in all time wins with 409, causing Bobby Bowden to drop to the #2 spot…again. Coach Bowden celebrated victory 377 times (technically he won 389 games, but 12 were stripped due to an academic scandal). Bowden's humility, however, should not allow him to be upset. In a September interview on the David Glenn Show, Bowden said “If I had my choice, I’d like for them to give me my 12 games back, and give Paterno his 100 games.” Well, Bobby, you got your wish.
Other parts of the settlement include calling for Penn State to to provide $60 million to remain in the state of Pennsylvania for sexual abuse against children. In a statement released today from the Paterno family, they believe that this is “a great victory for everyone who has fought for the truth in the Sandusky tragedy.”
Although he is no longer the winningest coach in college football history, Bobby Bowden is still #1 in the eyes of everyone at Florida State. Bowden had 33 consecutive winning seasons, 27 consecutive bowl attendances, and two National Championships during 34 glorious seasons at Florida State. He took us from one of the embarrassing football programs in the NCAA to one of the greatest - so great in fact that Florida State played in a bowl game on New Year’s day for 15 consecutive seasons. He made Florida State a frequent fixture of the Top 10, and finished in the Top 5 for 14 seasons in a row.
To Coach Bowden, I would like to say thank you. Thank you for bringing continuous, positive, national attention to Florida State. Thank you for building our football program from the ground up. Thank you for being a man and standing up for Paterno and his successes as a head coach, instead of basking in the glory of having the most wins. I am proud to be a part of the Seminole family, a family you will forever be a part of too. Go Noles, dadgummit.
