TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For Doug Mannheimer, Florida State football isn\u2019t just a fall tradition \u2014 it has shaped much of his life, from his childhood in Tallahassee to his role preserving some of the program\u2019s most celebrated history.<\/p>\n
Mannheimer, a member of the FSU Hall of Fame Class of 2013, said he has attended Seminoles home football games since he was 5 years old and is approaching a milestone streak.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the beginning of second grade I caught the mumps and so I missed that ball game. The first game in the beginning of the season in 1962 but since then I have not missed a home game,\u201d Mannheimer said. \u201cI grew up in Tallahassee and went to undergraduate and law school there, so the New Mexico State game will be my 373rd consecutive home game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the stands, Mannheimer has spent decades helping safeguard a unique piece of Florida State football tradition: the Sod Cemetery.<\/p>\n
Since 1962, the Sod Cemetery has been a must-see part of Florida State University football nostalgia, serving as a memorial to some of the program\u2019s biggest road victories against top opponents. Mannheimer has overseen the site for nearly four decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m what Dean Coyle Moore would say is the second keeper of the sod cemetery, He was the first and he founded it in 1962,\u201d Mannheimer said. He said Moore, a family friend, asked him to take over the responsibility before Moore died.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took me out there about six months before he passed away at age ninety and asked if I would look after the sod cemetery for him and he actually had me bring my two-year-old son and he asked Andrew if he would do it after I passed away so he was trying to pick up about a hundred years of help for the sod cemetery,\u201d Mannheimer said.<\/p>\n
Mannheimer also shared memories of the late Bobby Bowden, the two-time national championship coach who led Florida State for decades. Mannheimer described Bowden as someone who could connect with recruits and families in a way that felt genuine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Bobby Bowden went for the home visit to visit with the young man and his Mom or his dad or his uncle or his auntie or his Grandmama and when Bobby Bowden showed up or sometimes they would say when the Reverand Bowden showed up he preached and the sermon was heard and that young man was going to become a Seminole, but it wasn\u2019t fake,\u201d Mannheimer said.<\/p>\n
As a longtime follower of the program, Mannheimer also pointed to what he considers one of Florida State\u2019s defining moments \u2014 a play against rival Florida in Gainesville during the 1993 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the greatest play in Florida State Football is not at Doak it\u2019s at the University of Florida. 1993 it\u2019s third and ten from the twenty-one yard line late in the fourth quarter,\u201d Mannheimer said. \u201cFlorida State\u2019s only ahead by about four and Charlie Ward drops back he hits his roommate Warrick Dunn up the left sidelines and Warrick runs for seventy-nine yards. The Seminoles get one in the victory column. They beat Florida in Gainesville, that sends us to the national championship, Charlie Ward wins the Heisman Trophy and Boby Bowden wins the national Championship. So I think Ward to Dunn in 1993 is the greatest single play in our football history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Mannheimer said he believes the 2026 Seminoles have significant potential under coach Mike Norvell.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our fans area ready to win, I know Coach Norvell, he does want to win and he\u2019s a very good person. \u2018I think they put together a really good team,\u201d Mannheimer said.<\/p>\n
Florida State fans across the state \u2014 from Pensacola to Pembroke Pines \u2014 will be watching as the Seminoles take the field at home against New Mexico State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For Doug Mannheimer, Florida State football isn\u2019t just a fall tradition \u2014 it has shaped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[232,234,233],"class_list":["post-381288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}