Bobby Bowden: Boys Wear Earrings To Be 'Like Their Momma'

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden made headlines on Wednesday thanks to his appearance on ESPN's Mike & Mike Show. 

Bowden, 87, brought up a trend he noticed about players not having a father figure in their lives.

"Sixty-five to 70 percent of my boys did not have a daddy at home," Bowden said in the interview. "They're raised by mommas. Sweet old mommas. Thank God for them mommas, or grandmommas. Many times it was grandmomma. Or big sister, or aunt. But where's the man?

"A boy needs a male figure, and the girls do, too. Somebody to discipline them and make them be a man. I used to kid about this, they grew up wanting to be like their momma. They want to be a man like their momma, that's the way they were raised. That's why they wear earrings."

"I'm kidding about that," Bowden added. "I had children too, you know."