[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 157 (Monday, September 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6453-S6454]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        REMEMBERING BOBBY BOWDEN

 Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the life and 
legacy of college football coaching legend and my very good longtime 
friend, Bobby Bowden.
  Gayle and I offer our deepest condolences to the members of the 
Bowden family, as well as to the entire extended Bulldogs, 
Mountaineers, and Seminoles families. We have lost a shining star in 
the college athletics community, but everything he stood for and 
represented lives on in the hearts and minds of all who had the 
privilege of knowing him, myself included.
  I will never forget the first time I met Bobby. It was 1966, and he 
and Ann pulled up in a station wagon with six kids in the back. He made 
an impression, to say the least. I have never met a more humble and 
kind person, and he was always such a positive influence in my life and 
the lives of all the players he coached. Bobby was also a deeply 
devoted man of faith. It didn't matter what your faith was, as long as 
you believed in something greater than yourself.
  He holds a special place in the hearts of West Virginians in 
particular because of his tribute to the Marshall University team who 
perished in a plane crash in 1970. Our entire statewide community felt 
this loss. Friendly rivalries were set aside, and Bobby, who was head 
coach, led the way to tell the Nation ``We are Marshall.'' West 
Virginia University players wore Marshall's initials on their helmets, 
and the next season, Bobby gave Marshall's new coaches access to film 
and gamebooks to help them rebuild their program. His selflessness 
toward Marshall during that devastating time has been cherished in the 
decades that have followed. He was really something special.
  Bobby had a gift for teaching the game and motivating you to be the 
best you could be in all aspects of your life. And it wasn't all for 
the athletes; he treated everyone the very same. No one was more 
important than anyone else. It didn't matter who your family was or 
where you came from, what mattered is what you made of yourself with 
the circumstances the Lord gave

[[Page S6454]]

you. He earned the legacy we know him for and expected no less from 
anyone else.
  With 377 wins and two national titles during his 40 years as a major 
college coach, he was the winningest coach in Division One history. But 
when the game was over, no matter the score, Bobby showed us the man he 
has always been--a leader, a fierce competitor, and despite his 
humility, a man completely deserving of the prestige his legacy brought 
to himself and to the teams he coached.
  Good coaches certainly win games, but great coaches, like Bobby, have 
a profound impact on your life. They are models for how to handle 
perseverance, leadership, success, and failure and how to take what you 
learn from athletics and utilize it to build the rest of your life. He 
knew sports can make you into so much more than a good athlete if you 
have the right attitude, and I know there are many former student-
athletes who have Coach Bowden to thank in great part for their 
success. I had the honor of knowing him not only as one of the greatest 
coaches but also as a true friend and a man I have the greatest respect 
for.
  The relationships he forged with the players, his colleagues, and the 
communities he called home had a profound impact, bringing both 
national attention and respect to the teams he coached. If he lost a 
game, he was the first to go congratulate his opponent. Put simply, 
even though he wasn't born in the Mountain State, he represented the 
very best of West Virginia, which is saying quite a lot.
  Again, I extend my condolences to his loving wife Ann; their 
children, Terry, Tommy, Jeff, Steve, Robyn, and Ginger; and their many 
grandchildren. May God Bless you and your family, my dear 
friend.

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