Bobby Bowden battled prostate cancer, now cancer-free

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Posted by John Taylor on September 13, 2011, 7:41 AM EDT

 

Go ahead, take a deep, deep breath and exhale. Bobby Bowden is just fine.

 

Sparked by a tweet from a Tallahassee television anchor late Monday night, rumors spread like a raging wildfire regarding an “emotional announcement” Bowden would make Tuesday morning about his health. Fortunately, the reality of Bowden’s “situation” isn’t anywhere near as dire as what some of the social-media-fueled speculation had predicted.

 

Ahead of an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, Bowden revealed for the first time in an interview with USA Today that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 2007. Bowden was treated by a captain on his first Florida State team, Dr. Joe Camps, with low-dose radiation seeds implanted in his prostrate.

 

That procedure was performed in the spring of 2007; Bowden has been cancer-free since.

 

With the exception of family members, Bowden told no one of his health battle, the now-retired coach said in the interview. That has left Bowden kicking himself in the dadgum rear for waiting so long to go public with his health scare.

 

“I did not understand the significance of prostate cancer back then,” Bowden said in the interview by way of the Orlando Sentinel.

 

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have considered it my moral duty to bring it out in the open.”

 

Said his wife, Ann, “Bobby is not real big on sharing things that are wrong with him; he doesn’t want to admit he isn’t perfect.”

 

Perhaps the saddest part of Bowden’s revelation? The fact that he kept it so secret in large part because he feared rivals schools would use it against him on the recruiting trail.

 

“What I knew was when something like that happens to a coach and your opponents find out about it, the first thing they say is ‘Don’t go to Florida State. Coach Bowden is about to die.’”, Bowden said.

 

Bowden is expected to announce during his GMA appearance that he will serve as a spokesperson for prostate cancer awareness.

 

UPDATED 8:58 a.m. ET: Bowden’s appearance on GMA was anticlimactic thanks to the release of the USA Today interview, but it was enlightening and uplifting nonetheless.

 

Bowden was interviewed by Robin Roberts, herself a cancer survivor, and reiterated what he told the paper, that he did not go public with his fight against prostate cancer because of fears that opposing coaches would use it against him in recruiting. After the discovery in early 2007, Bowden only informed his wife, who in turn informed their six children of their father’s health situation.

 

Six months after the diagnosis and following non-invasive treatment, Bowden was declared cancer-free.

 

The legendary former FSU coach also urged men, especially over the age of 40, to visit their physicians to have their prostate checked regularly.

 

Source: CollegeFootballTalk