So, I am a super fan of two teams, and this is about one of them. I am a Superfan of Florida State football. I love college football as a whole, but I really only care about FSU. My friend Thad went to Notre Dame, so I passively pay attention to the Irish, but only care about FSU. And my love of FSU started aesthetically, then became stylistically, then became all consuming.
It started with this shoe and this guy.
I know it is hard to understand, but there was a time when we did not know everything in the whole world, and we had 3 tv channels and then cable, and all the rest. This guy, this is Charlie Ward. Look at his shoes. Those are the Nike Veer.
I love those shoes. I love them. They had a gravitational pull when I was a younger man. Then, I ended up watching FSU and I had never had a sense of what southern college football meant. I was a punk rock swim team tennis playing skatepunk, I had no idea. But, those shoes. Then I would watch them and the Coach called his offense a FAST BREAK OFFENSE. Charlie was a point guard on the hoops team, and they ran their offense the same way it seemed. They would snap the ball, and Ward would roll out and just sort of make something happen. This was before Vick or Lamar or Mahones. They just put the quarterback out there, and he found things to do.
What I did not know what just how actually good FSU was. You see, Bowden finished in the top five at the end of the year polls for roughly 15 years. That is a level of excellence you do not expect to see again. I do not even think Saban did that.
So, I was sold, FSU looked cool, wore good shoes and it was football I liked. Northern Football did not look like that. The Packers were terrible when I was a kid, and I did not give a crap about the NFL. Charlie Ward was doing something amazingly cool looking.
And Saint Bobby was so cool. Dadgummit.
As you dove into FSU like I did, you had a sense that Coach Bowden was doing something different than I had ever seen. He was recruiting speed, and lots of it. LOTS of it. His offensive lineman were calling the protection at the line. It was like two teams on the field, the fast guys and the big guys. And they won gigantic.
Then their defense happened. THis is Mickey Andrews.
He is one of those Buddy Ryan genius guys. He created a dominant defense. Guys like Deion, Boulware, Renard Wilson, and so many others. At one point the defensive team goal was to pitch a shut out for an entire season. And they almost made it.
The style of football at my high school was boring, the style of play at the University of Wisconsin was terrible, the Packers sucked. FSU put the ball in the air, they had defensive players flying all over the field, and they were led by Saint Bobby the Gunslinger.
My favorite Bowden story is the White House story. One year Lou Holtz was at Notre Dame, and Bowden was at FSU. This was before the playoffs or anything. National Champions were selected by newspaper writers or coaches polls. But by people. Well that year FSU beat Notre Dame. And they most of the other games. But, the national championship got split in the polls. And the White House only invited Notre Dame to be acknowledged by the president. Which was a big deal at the time.
Saint Bobby took offense and told a reporter that they could settle this once and for all, he would bring his boys, Holtz could bring his boys, and we can play on the White House lawn for the whole thing. Now, as you dive into Saint Bobby, you will see this was neither mean spirited, or anything else. He was joshing, but he also meant it.
You see, there is a thing that I loved about Bowden, he and his team showed up and played the game. And then the game was OVER. This was a time of the Miami Hurricanes and Brian Bosworth and all the rest. And Bowden was not a blood vendetta guy. He was a competitor, and if you wanted to go, he would bring his team. But, he was the best sort of Christian guy, in which when it was done it was done. Then you shook hands, and were polite. But, if you punched him, he was going to punch you back. And then he would apologize.
I love FSU football. I am a little off center today because of the damn heat. But, if you get a chance to watch the high lights, FSU is cool. And Burt Reynolds played there.