Bryant McFadden was a recent guest on Freddie Stevenson's "Trials to Triumph" webcast and the former Seminole-turned-analyst for CBS Sports had plenty of opinions on the NFL Draft, NIL and many other things.
McFadden, a former five-star recruit and Parade All-American, was part of the FSU recruiting class in 2000, just a few months after the Seminoles went wire-to-wire No. 1 and won their second national championship. But the two-time Super Bowl champion wasn't always sold on playing for the Seminoles, or any team in the Sunshine State. McFadden admits to growing up a Clemson fan, but once he experienced the legend of Bobby Bowden, things quickly changed.
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"When I went to visit Florida State, it was graduation week in Tallahassee, and they were getting ready for the Sugar Bowl. It was a Saturday practice and I just saw how those guys were competing. The energy that was there. The atmosphere was at an all-time high, and I was like, 'I wanna be a part of this'," McFadden said.
Bryant McFadden talks about how Bobby Bowden got him to FSU
McFadden.talks about his time at FSU and the demands of former defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews, but the best story came when Bowden went to his home in Hollywood, Florida.
"Coach Bowden was the closer. When Bobby came to my house it was like he was floating," McFadden said.
At this point, Bowden was nearly 25 years into his run at FSU and was a legendary figure in sports, not just college football. He had done national commercials, spoken at major events and met with Presidents that were visiting the state. Bowden was a celebrity and everyone at McArthur High School was excited for him to visit to McFadden.
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"When word got out that Bobby was making a home visit to me, many of the faculty members at my school were Bobby Bowden fans, and they were showering me down with memorabilia, like 'can you see if he would sign this'?"
McFadden was nervous to present Bowden with all of these items, none of which belonged to him, in hopes of him signing things. But if McFadden thought it would bother the coach, he would soon learn otherwise.
"It was about 40 different pieces of T-shirts, pictures, whatever and 'Big B' said, 'No problem McFadden, I got you, whatever you need!," he said.
And that's why Bobby Bowden was the closer. Nothing phased him when it came to recruiting. He had seen nearly everything and by this point, bringing 5-stars to Tallahassee was second nature.
"What Florida State had cooking at that time, it was hard to tell them no," McFadden concluded.
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