((HT: Orlando Sentinel/Andrew Carter))
Two Florida State football players implicated in the university's academic-fraud case say they regret their roles in a scandal that could tarnish Bobby Bowden's legacy((pictured, thanks Orlando Sentinel/Gary Green)).
In exclusive interviews with the Sentinel, senior defensive tackle Budd Thacker and senior linebacker Dekoda Watson, both projected starters, expressed remorse that their transgressions — and those of 23 other current or former teammates — could mean the NCAA strips their hall of fame coach of as many as 14 victories.
"I know personally and for the guys that were involved with it, we're sincerely sorry about what happened," Watson said. "And, I mean, that's all I can do. If I could turn back the hands of time, which anybody would say, I would."
After a lengthy university and NCAA investigation into academic fraud committed by 61 athletes, the NCAA Committee on Infractions in March placed Florida State on probation for four years, cut approximately 19 full athletic scholarships and ordered the school to vacate victories from 2006 and '07 seasons in the 10 sports in which implicated athletes competed.
Florida State is appealing the vacation-of-victories penalty but a final decision from the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee might not come for several months. In the wake of the sanctions, though, the focus has turned to one sport: football. And to one man: Bowden.
The NCAA found no evidence that Bowden — or any FSU coach — played a role in the misconduct or had knowledge of improprieties.
Even so, Bowden perhaps stands to lose the most if the penalty is upheld.
Bowden, 79, could lose as many as 14 wins — a number that would likely make it impossible for him to retire with the most victories in major college football history. Bowden has 382 career victories, one behind Penn State's Joe Paterno.
"It's horrible, man," Thacker said of the possibility that Bowden's record could be affected. "It's a bad thing. I feel sorry for Coach Bowden [but] I think he'll be all right in the end."
Bowden has avoided placing importance on his record but he has made clear his frustration with a penalty he believes unfairly targets him and other FSU coaches.
"I'm just concerned about our track team, which won two national championships. I'm just concerned about that and other coaches that won games," Bowden said Thursday. "I heard commentators saying, 'They deserve it. They deserve it.' Why do we deserve it? I mean, why do our coaches deserve it?
"We didn't know anything about it."
Bowden said "there might have been some" of his players who have apologized for cheating. But he said the 25 players — most of whom served four-game suspensions spread over the 2007 and '08 seasons — "have paid the price."
"It's not like they all came in here and apologized, no, and I don't expect them to," Bowden said.
The university suspended the 25 implicated football players from participating in the 2007 Music City Bowl, which FSU lost by a touchdown against Kentucky.
Then those suspended watched their teammates lose without them to Wake Forest in the third game of the '08 season.
And now their actions might cost Bowden a part of his legacy.
"There was a time when I was depressed," Watson said. "But all things happen for a reason. And now as far as Coach Bowden, I personally feel like he worked hard for [his legacy] and brought Florida State around ... they can't knock that he's still a legend.
"They can't knock that he did win all of those games, fair and square."
Like his teammates who were involved in the scandal, Watson has attempted to move on. He wants to move on. Watson and the others served their suspensions. They retook the online music course at the center of the misconduct.
Now they'd like to play the 2009 season distraction-free, even though FSU's appeal means this case is not yet resolved or out of the headlines.
"We've got to focus on what we got to do," Thacker said. "And that's to get ready for the [opener against Miami]. We can't worry about what goes on outside of the program and that's what I try to do."
Yet every time it seems like the darkness is behind them for good, it comes back again. The worst of it is over for the players.
It might not be for Bowden, who has said in recent years that he'd like to reach 400 career victories — a milestone that could be out of reach because of a scandal in which he had no involvement.
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