Former Florida State Seminoles football coach Bobby Bowden is thanking his doctors, his family, and the many fans who prayed for him as he battled a COVID-19 infection.
“I want to thank all the many, many people who were thinking of and praying for me over the last few weeks,” he said in a statement released Wednesday. “I just went through a battle with COVID-19 and God just wasn’t ready to take me home yet to be with him.”
According to ESPN, Bowden was hospitalized Oct. 6, just three days after he tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He learned about the diagnosis shortly after returning home from a length stay at a hospital and rehabilitation center, where he was treated for an infection in his leg.
The 91-year-old Bowden went on to explain that his greatest priorities in life have been his family and his Christian faith.
“I have always said that the only thing you can take to heaven with you is your kids, and for 71 years of marriage, Ann and I have tried to live our lives and share our Christian faith with them so that, one day, we will all be there together,” he said. “But until that time, we are here on earth, and America is greatest country this side of heaven.”
“We have the freedom to pursue our faith in God, our dreams for our career, and our love for our families,” he continued. “For too long now, politicians in Washington have run American down and apologized for our greatness. I’m tired of it.”
In addition to thanking those who have supported him and talking about his religious convictions, Bowden used his statement to announce his support for President Donald Trump’s re-election.
Trump thanked Bowden for his support Thursday morning.
The former coach noted he received the same experimental drug used to treat Trump’s recent COVID-19 infection, Remdesivir.
“At the age of 91, in many other countries, I might not have even been treated,” Bowden said. “In America, I was. The one thing that all of us as parents and grandparents can do for our children and grandchildren in these next couple weeks is vote.”
He concluded by arguing re-electing the current president “is our only change to leave the next generation with the same heritage, beliefs, and opportunities that Ann and I had and that many of you had.”