A Rolling Argument

The lexicon of football language has been long littered with war-related phrases, but determining whether to accept or refuse the controversial new submission by Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden is a debate in progress.

By installing “Let’s roll” as his Seminoles’ 2002 motto, Bowden has inspired critical and patriotic arguments by drawing a parallel between the Sept. 11 story of United Airlines Flight 93 and the challenge of a college football season.

“You know, you’re going to die and instead of panicking, they go in there and try to keep them from blowing up the White House, or whatever they were trying to blow up,” Bowden said last week while explaining his reasoning behind the motto’s establishment. “I consider those guys heroes. Let’s honor them.”

That logic is flawed, say critics.

“[Bowden] is a very tremendous, decent guy who sees bigger issues than football, which makes this so surprising,” said David Hyde, a South Florida Sun-Sentinel columnist. “I think most people back Bobby on this issue--and Seminole fans would back him even if he made the motto ‘Let’s ‘Nole’--but I believe any time you mix war and sports that trivializes a real tragedy. Bobby, even with the best of intentions, did that.”

After a telephone conversation with GTE supervisor Lisa Jefferson on the morning of Sept. 11, Flight 93 passenger Todd M. Beamer, an account manager for Oracle software, was heard saying, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.”

Before he uttered the phrase, Beamer, 32, the married father of two young boys whose wife, Lisa, delivered a third child, daughter Morgan Kay, in January, told Jefferson he and other passengers were preparing to overtake a group of hijackers aboard the Boeing 757 that departed from Newark, N.J.

Flight 93 crashed in a remote field in western Pennsylvania. All 44 aboard were killed.

Doug MacMillan, Beamer’s best friend who serves as chief executive of the nonprofit Todd M. Beamer Memorial Foundation, said the courageous message during the tragic circumstances has served as an ongoing source of inspiration for many in the days and months after Sept. 11.

“What it means is a chance to reflect and stop to think about Sept. 11, think about how we learned a big lesson that day and how we should be proud about moving on,” MacMillan said.

A self-described history buff, Bowden, 72, wants his Seminoles to move forward after dealing with an uncharacteristic 8-4 season in 2001--a showing that ended strings of 14 consecutive top-five finishes in national polls and 13 straight 10-win seasons.

Florida State, loaded with a dominant offensive line, is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press poll and No. 4 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll. If the Seminoles beat Iowa State on Aug. 24, Bowden will pass Alabama’s Paul “Bear” Bryant with his 324th career victory.

Bowden’s team makes use of bombs and blitzes, but Hyde says roaring “Let’s roll!” before each game is unnecessary.

“Bobby didn’t put this to a team vote, he just decided it,” Hyde said. “The fact is what you’ve got now are 18-and 19-year-olds talking about getting together as a team like the nation did after Sept. 11. These mixed metaphors--are they thinking about the national tragedy or getting motivated for a Saturday afternoon football game?--just feel wrong.”

MacMillan defused much of the immediate backlash by announcing the Beamer Foundation’s support of Bowden last week. MacMillan was invited by Bowden to address the Seminoles and he will do so today as the team conducts two-a-day practices while wearing white “Let’s roll” T-shirts.

“I want them to understand Todd’s life was not boiled down to two words, that he was a man of great character who was willing to lay down his life for this,” MacMillan said. “I want someone who understands the sincerity and the magnitude of what he did. I believe Coach Bowden knew the story very well and this [motto] was a natural progression for him.”

Yet, Bowden has opened himself to ridicule by earlier referring to Beamer as “that guy on that plane.” A Tampa Tribune columnist added that after Bowden detailed his explanation of the motto idea by telling a condensed story of the Flight 93 tragedy to reporters on media day Aug. 4, he asked, “Any tears yet?” and smiled.

The sensitivity toward Sept. 11 in the sporting community has been obvious. Major League Baseball fined Cincinnati Red General Manager Jim Bowden (no relation to Bobby) an undisclosed sum after he assessed labor talks by saying, “If players want to strike, they ought to just pick Sept. 11, because that’s what it’s going to do to the game.... Be symbolic. Let Donald Fehr drive the plane right into the building, if that’s what they want to do.”

MacMillan said he’s convinced Bobby Bowden respects Beamer and his legacy of the foundation, which has raised more than $2 million for the 5,000-plus children whose parents were Sept. 11 victims.

“Coach called me last week to introduce himself and told me he was a God-loving, patriotic man,” MacMillan said. “I told him he had bigger things to worry about this year than ‘Let’s roll.’ ”

Lynn Hobby, an assistant for sports information and athletic promotions at Florida State, said the controversy has not resulted in a flood of complaints by telephone or e-mail.

“I’ve taken two calls on it today--one supportive, one disagreeing,” Hobby said. “We get far more phone calls on injuries, like last year when [senior wide receiver] Robert Morgan hurt his knee.”

Hobby said she’s been told by university officials that the motto is no more than a motivational tool for the locker room. The Florida State football posters have already been made, equipped with the slogan, “Lay it on the line”--with a photo of the offensive linemen.

Brett Marhanka, sports information director for Wheaton College in Illinois, where Beamer played baseball, said his school created a patch for baseball players in the spring that listed Beamer’s No. 23 and “Let’s roll.” Additionally, Marhanka said the Wheaton Rolling Thunder football, soccer and volleyball teams ended each huddle last year by shouting “Let’s roll!”

“We wanted to honor Todd without being over the top,” Marhanka said.

MacMillan said the Beamer Foundation has applied for a trademark of “Let’s roll,” through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A spokeswoman for the office said a decision on trademark registration for the phrase probably will be made in 12 to 18 months, although a 30-day challenge period is expected to be necessary because two others without ties to Beamer have applied for the same trademark.

The Beamer Foundation has struck a deal with Wal-Mart to begin selling “Let’s roll,” T-shirts and hats beginning during the first week of September with profits distributed to the foundation.

The foundation is coordinating retreats and mentoring/educational opportunities for the children of Sept. 11 victims and other New York youth suffering psychological effects.

MacMillan said he wouldn’t mind if Florida State began producing merchandise with “Let’s roll,” as long as the profits were directed to the foundation.

“I will make it known to [Bowden and university officials] that we are trying to raise a significant amount of money for our organization and how we feel that if anyone should benefit from this, it is the children,” MacMillan said.

An avid sports fan, MacMillan said today’s meeting with Bowden and the Seminoles is bittersweet.

“The only guy I know who would get what a thrill it is to meet Bobby Bowden is my best friend,” MacMillan said. “But Todd is gone.”