HR 9027

1	House Resolution
2	A resolution honoring Bobby Bowden for his outstanding
3	career as the Florida State University Head Football
4	Coach.
5
6	WHEREAS, in 1976, after successfully coaching at his alma
7	mater, Samford University, and at the University of West
8	Virginia, Bobby Bowden took over the Florida State University
9	football program and during the 34 intervening seasons developed
10	it into one of the most consistently successful programs in the
11	history of major college football, and
12	WHEREAS, during his 34 years at Florida State, Bobby Bowden
13	led the Seminoles to 18 10-win seasons, to 31 bowl games,
14	including 28 consecutive bowl games, to 6 Bowl Championship
15	Series bowl games in the 12-year existence of this national
16	championship competition, and to consensus National
17	Championships in 1993 and 1999, and
18	WHEREAS, during Florida State's 18-year membership in the
19	Atlantic Coast Conference, Bobby Bowden led his team to 12
20	championships and was twice named the conference Coach of the
21	Year, and
22	WHEREAS, on December 5, 2006, Bobby Bowden was inducted
23	into the College Football Hall of Fame and received the
24	organization's highest distinction as a Gold Medal Recipient,
25	joining former recipients President Dwight D. Eisenhower,
26	President John F. Kennedy, General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, and
27	Jackie Robinson, and
28	WHEREAS, Coach Bowden helped 164 student athletes go on to
29	careers in the National Football League and profoundly
30	influenced many professional and collegiate coaches and players
31	with his wisdom, loyalty, and warmth, and
32	WHEREAS, although admired for his success in making the
33	Florida State football program one of the premier programs in
34	the country, Coach Bowden does not consider success on the field
35	to be his defining accomplishment, preferring instead to
36	emphasize and focus on the more important aspects of his life -
37	his Christian faith, his family and friends, and the success of
38	the young men who comprised his teams over the years, NOW,
39	THEREFORE,
40
41	Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of
42	Florida:
43
44	That the Florida House of Representatives proudly commends
45	Bobby Bowden on an outstanding career as the Florida State
46	University Head Football Coach and extends to him its gratitude
47	and congratulations not only for his many accomplishments as
48	head football coach but also for his innumerable contributions
49	to and on behalf of the university, the City of Tallahassee and
50	surrounding communities, and the State of Florida.
51	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
52	presented to Bobby Bowden as a tangible token of the sentiments
53	expressed herein.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.