The New York Times Sunday gave us an update on the Bobby-Ann Bowden Football Family, the title symbolic for it speaks of patriarch Bobby and his Florida State love story as well.

The title is: Bowdens Refuse to Take a Knee.

The Bowdens won’t quit, have not been deterred, effectively, and won’t be until they are flat ready.

If he were thinking of at last hanging them up as the builder of the great Seminole program he has built and that remains on go for Miami at Tallahassee this weekend, he sure hasn’t showed.

I can see Bobby now, jaw thrust outward at me if I had even wondered.

“You want me to quit the Seminoles? Why, I ain’t dead, not close.  But, you’re a Gator,’’ is how he answered the same question weeks ago. I did graduate from Florida. But back then, Tallahassee was for women, Florida for men.

“Sure some want me to retire. I know. I like what I do,’’ he said.

And what he does is coach, play golf, and study World War II campaigns. Good time for that. The Military Channel on cable has war on 24 hours.

Is Bobby’s time near? I hope not, Bobby is one of one. He has gone through life without throwing around anything worse than a ‘Daddratit!’ And, he has won his share of national championships.

But, The Times reinforces the Bowden no-quit bloodline, dwelling on Bowden at FSU with a chance to outcoach Joe Paterno if the federals don’t pull some of his wins because an academic scandal at Tallahassee.

Bet you a nickel Bowden is cleared and keeps those victories,  wins a few more games and garners some more toasts—make that iced teas. He once refused a shooter even after his first win over the Gators.

The Bowden toast in The Times was strong for the whole family. Ann and Bobby gave us football coaching sons.

Terry now is the head coach at the University of North Alabama. He’s a recruiting son-of-a-gun.  He has a fine team assembled. He’ll win some he is not supposed to win.

From Tallahassee, his dad will help. Got Christian Ponder to quarterback them Noles when it opens Miami the weekend ahead, with a challenging ACC schedule ahead and the national champion Florida Gators . Bowden likes his sport, but he does not like the Gators. A final win over Florida would culminate his career.

Believe me, the Bowdens all would like to have a hand in a final victory over Florida with their senior, Bowden, as the head coach.

New North Alabama head coach Terry Bowden said nothing is over yet.  “I am ready for the second half and the finish for dad that is still to be written. Who else has three family members that coached teams that were undefeated in Division 1?,” referring to the Bowden Boys. “Who else can have a father-son coach at the same time, or coach against each other? Nobody and they never will.  Who has 70 years of head coaching in one family, and 500 and something wins. Darn it, heck with ya’ll.’’ said Terry.

The plus, plus, plus about all this is that so far Bowden Football is how the patriarch’s life has been.

Well, since that party at the grand waterfront home of Bill Watson, who had a lighted three-hole golf course on his property as well as old refrigerators on the docks for smoking mullet and chicken.  It was in that setting the phone rang. It was for Bobby Bowden, then the football coach at West Virginia. Florida State that night offered Bowden the head job he still has at FSU. But, Bobby didn’t take the job on the phone. He went back to West Virginia to think about.

Bowden parked his car at the foot of the hill in front of his fancy mountain home and snowshoed it up into their home, their home until they called the movers to pack them up for the trip to the new job at Florida State.