TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Lots are neatly placed throughout Bobby Bowden’s Killearn estate as the Bowden Legacy Auction is officially underway.
Within 24 hours, the auction has received over 8,000 bids with registrations for over 780 people–a number that’s expected to at least triple–from over 35 states and territories.
After months of sorting from Wiregrass Auction Group, the house once again feels like a home.
“As we’ve spent more time in this house, you can feel Coach and Mrs. Ann in this house,” said Wiregrass’ owner Mark Manley. “It is a feeling of peace and of a life well lived. This is where coach came home to. When the stadium lights went down, when the cheer of the crowd went away, this is where peace was found.”
The familiar faith, family and football of the Bowden family is on display in the home. Bowden’s NIV translation Bible received the auctions first bid and remains a popular piece alongside the coach’s framed “Victory in the Swamp” print, which depicts Osceola and Renegade capturing a gator and his numerous championship rings.
The family’s other passions are on display as well, with Ann’s outfits and jewelry, as well as Bobby’s golf equipment and war memorabilia on the auction block.
“Coach loved military history, specifically World War II,” remarked Manley before showing off a lot that contained a book written by Henry “Hap” Arnold, the first General appointed to the Air Force. The book contains letters from another Air Force legend, General Jimmy Doolittle who led the United States’ first air strike on the Japanese mainland in World War II.
When Manley and his team first opened up the estate to WCTV in January, the owner remarked that what was going up to bids was “just more stuff to [Bowden],” but what was just stuff to the coach and his kin are now stories and unforgettable memories to those hoping to make a piece of the Bowden family’s home a part of their own.
“I get random emails from people now that the items are posted. ‘I attended that game, that was the first FSU game my parents carried me to, I was in the Marching Chiefs during that time.’ I’ve been around college football all my life, I’ve never seen anything like the connection that Coach Bowden and the Seminoles have with their fans.”
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