Former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden made comments Wednesday on ESPN's "Mike & Mike" that some took as insulting single mothers, provoking a debate on social media.
Bowden's teams notched more and 300 victories and two national championships at Florida State over 34 seasons, according to AL.com. He said on "Mike and Mike" that many of his players were raised without fathers, which he found troubling, Deadspin.com reported.
"My last years at Florida State, 65 or 70 percent of my boys did not have a daddy at home," Bowden, 87, said on the talk show, per Deadspin.com. "They were raised by mommas, sweet ol' mommas. Thank god for them mommas. Or grandmomma. Many times it was grandmomma, or big sister, or aunt. But where's the man? A boy needs a male figure. And the girls do too. Somebody to discipline them and make them be a man. I used to kid about this, you know, they grow and wanna be like their momma.
"A boy needs a male figure. And the girls do too. Somebody to discipline them and make them be a man. I used to kid about this you know, they grow up and they want to be like their mama. That's the way they were raised. That's why they wear earrings. I'm kidding about that," Bowden continued.
Nina Mandell, a writer for USA Today blog "For The Win," took exception to Bowden's comments.
"Yes, Bowden is an 87-year-old man. That doesn't excuse him from making hurtful comments about his former players — and most importantly the people that worked so hard to raise them and make them into men (men who were enough for him to build a career on)," Mandrell said.
Later Wednesday, on ESPN’s "Russillo & Kanell," Bowden suggested that many who complained about his comments may not have heard them in context, the Los Angeles Times noted.
"They don’t print everything you said," Bowden said. "They didn't hear me say, ‘Thank God for these sweet mothers.’ And they didn't hear me say, 'I was kidding.' So they won't get any apology from me, I can tell you that."
Opinions on social media about Bowden's comments, though, were mixed.
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