TAMPA, Fla. — We have had champions, and we have had Heisman Trophy winners.
We have had football teams and programs that were wildly successful, and we have had a 40-year run of near-constant relevance on the national stage.
But when it comes to icons and legends, Florida has come up a little short. Jimmy Johnson won two national titles and then left for the NFL. Same with Dennis Erickson. Steve Spurrier went to the NFL, Howard Schnellenberger jumped to the USFL, Urban Meyer left for Ohio State and Jimbo Fisher ran off to Texas A&M.
Not Bobby Bowden.
He chose us. Even when bigger schools called. Even when the NFL and USFL called. Bowden remained at Florida State where he kept winning and laughing and treating every stranger, fan and reporter as if they were long-lost friends.
He is our legend. And he will be forever.
Bowden died in Tallahassee on Aug. 8 at the age of 91, a month after his family announced he was terminally ill with what was later disclosed as pancreatic cancer. He left behind his wife Ann, six children and a legacy that is practically unmatched in college football.
When he arrived in Tallahassee from West Virginia in 1976, the program had two head coaches and four total victories in the previous three seasons. He described the situation in his 2001 book “The Bowden Way.”
“When I was at Alabama the bumper stickers read ‘Beat Auburn.’ When I was at West Virginia they read ‘Beat Pitt.’ When I came to FSU, the bumper stickers read ‘Beat Anybody.’ ”
Bowden began by beating Florida in four successive seasons, and then he took on the rest of the nation. By the time he retired in 2009, FSU had won two national championships, had a 15-year run of top-5 finishes in the polls and Bowden was the second winningest coach in history.
“His influence on the countless young men he led in over 60 years of coaching can never be measured,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “His achievements as a coach are well documented and among the greatest the game has ever known, but when I think about Coach, it’s about the man he was and the impact he had on everyone he encountered.”
Tony Esposito
When Phil Esposito founded the Lightning in the early 1990s, he brought his brother Tony along as one of the front office’s top talent evaluators during the franchise’s early years. Tony, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame after a 16-year career as one of the NHL’s most dynamic goaltenders, died on Aug. 10 at age 78 after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Esposito was a three-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.
Bill Freehan
One of the greatest baseball players to ever come out of Pinellas County, Freehan died on Aug. 18 at age 79 in Michigan. Freehan starred at Bishop Barry High (later renamed St. Petersburg Catholic) before going to the University of Michigan, where he played baseball and football. Freehan was given a $125,000 bonus to sign with the Tigers in 1961 and went on to make 11 All-Star teams and win five Gold Gloves in Detroit.
Other than players not elected for off-the-field reasons or suspected steroid use, Freehan’s 11 All-Star appearances are the most of any player not in the Hall of Fame. He hit .262 with 200 home runs in a 15-year major league career.
Geno Hayes
An undersized linebacker out of Florida State who wasn’t drafted until the sixth round by the Bucs in 2008, Hayes nevertheless went on to have a seven-year career in the NFL. Hayes was a three-year starter in Tampa Bay, finishing among the team’s top three tacklers from 2009-2011. He passed away at age 33 on April 27 from liver disease after spending several years on the transplant list.
Vincent Jackson
Jackson was a three-time Pro Bowl receiver who signed a five-year contract with the Bucs in 2012 as a free agent from the Chargers. Jackson, who had 540 receptions for 9,080 yards and 57 touchdowns in a 12-year NFL career — and remained active in the Tampa Bay business community as a restaurant owner after his retirement — was found dead Feb. 15 in a Brandon hotel.
An autopsy report recently released said Jackson, 38, died of “chronic alcohol use.” His family had donated his brain to be studied by the Concussion Legacy Foundation, which said Jackson suffered from Stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Julio Lugo
Former Devil Rays shortstop Lugo died of an apparent heart attack on Nov. 15, a day before his 46th birthday. After being released by the Astros midway through 2003, Lugo revitalized his career in Tampa Bay. He hit .287 with 40 homers in parts of four seasons before being traded to the Dodgers. Lugo played for seven teams in his 12-year MLB career and won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2007.
Eugene Marve
Traded to the Bucs for an eighth-round draft pick in 1988, Marve was one of Tampa Bay’s steadiest performers at linebacker for the next several seasons. He died of undisclosed reasons on May 24 in Michigan at 60. Marve, who was a three-year starter in Tampa Bay, led the Bucs in tackles in 1988. His son, Robert, was a star quarterback at Plant High and went on to play at the University of Miami and Purdue.
Keith McCants
A centerpiece of one of the Buccaneers perpetual rebuilding efforts in the 1990s, McCants died of an apparent overdose in St. Petersburg on Sept. 2 at 53. The Bucs made McCants the No. 4 pick in the 1990 draft — one pick ahead of Junior Seau — after an All-American career at Alabama.
McCants played three seasons in Tampa Bay, collecting 12 sacks, before being released prior to the 1993 season. McCants spent another three seasons in the NFL with Houston and Arizona before ending his career.
Ray Snell
A former first-round pick who was a starting guard on Tampa Bay’s 1981 division champion team, Snell died of cancer on Sept. 28 at 63. Snell started 35 games for the Bucs over four seasons before being traded to the Steelers. His career ended prematurely due to a fracture near his right eye. Snell would later return to Tampa where he worked as a local code enforcement officer. His sons, Shannon and Ray Jr., both went on to play at the University of Florida.
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