The Three Greatest Athletes In Seminole History

3. Walter Dix, Track
Quite simply, the most decorated athlete in Florida State history. Dix dominated his sport like no other Seminole ever has. An eight-time national champion, a 17-time All-American and an NCAA record-holder in the 200-meter. Spurning pro contract offers, Dix led Florida State to back-to-back-to-back national titles as a sophomore, junior and senior. He then went to Beijing and collected two bronze medals in the 2008 Olympics.

I’m going to be honest. I had a hard time with Dix. A part of me wanted to put him at the very top of this list. After all, has anyone won more trophies for Florida State University than Walter Dix? He was the key figure in a dynasty run by the men’s track program and stayed in school to get his degree when he could have left much sooner. He might deserve to be No. 1 of all time. But when you see the two guys ahead of him, maybe you’ll understand.

2. Charlie Ward, Football/Basketball
I wish someone could look this up for me, but I don’t know that it would matter. Because I think I know the answer. Has anyone ever quarterbacked a team to a national championship and also played point guard on a basketball team that earned a spot in the Elite Eight? I’m thinking probably not. Charlie was just that special.

He brought Florida State its first national championship and its first Heisman Trophy. He was clutch. He was calm. He was almost impossible to sack when he saw you coming. The signature play of his college career was of course the little flip pass to Warrick Dunn to sew up a 33-21 win over Florida in the Swamp. But remember, he also had to lead the Seminoles down the field in the final minutes to beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Charlie was, without a doubt, the best football player in the nation in 1993. And yet he went pro – and was a first-round draft pick – in an entirely different sport. And he was clutch on the hardwood, too. As a freshman he sank a 30-footer to beat Louisville in the Metro Conference Championship game. He was just an amazing talent. Part of me wishes he would have given the NFL a try, because he was such a treat to watch in football (and the joke when he was a rookie with the Knicks was that he was the best quarterback in New York). But I understand the decision.

By the way, before he became a star under center as a junior and senior, Ward spent his freshman season as the team’s starting punter. That’s how insane an athlete he was – he could, almost literally, do anything. But then again, so could this last guy.

1. Deion Sanders, Football/Baseball/Track
Seriously, who else could it have been? Not only is he perhaps the best cornerback in football history (certainly no defensive back ever altered more gameplans), a two-time consensus All-American, one of the best punt returners who ever lived, an NFL Defensive MVP, a two-time Super Bowl winner, a eight-time Pro Bowler and a soon-to-be Hall of Famer, but he was pretty good on other fields as well.
What gets lost in Deion’s two-sport days during the 1990s was just how good he was at baseball. No, he wasn’t an All-Star and he won’t be in Cooperstown, but he was a very serviceable major leaguer for a number of years. He wasn’t a carnival act (hey, look at the football player trying to swing a bat!) at all. He was a legit major leaguer.
In 1992, he led the NL with 14 triples while hitting .304 for the season. In the World Series that year, Deion hit a stunning .533 with five stolen bases and likely would have been the World Series MVP if the Atlanta Braves had won.
In 1994, he stole 38 bases in just 92 games. In 1997 with the Reds, he stole 56 bases.
As we all know, he is the only person to hit a home run in the major leagues and score a touchdown in the NFL in the same week – will that milestone ever be reached again?
But that’s just his professional career. What Deion did in college will never be forgotten by Florida State fans (the responses to my last blog proved that). From “calling his shot” before returning a punt for a touchdown against Clemson, to terrorizing Andre Rison and the Michigan State Spartans, to intercepting a pass in the end zone against Auburn on his final collegiate play, to returning a pick 100 yards as a freshman to returning a punt for a touchdown against the hated Gators later that year to starring for the Florida State track and field team (he was an All-American in that sport, too) to helping the Seminoles to the College World Series as a starting outfielder. He did it all. He was confident. He was brash. He was unbelievably fast and undeniably talented. There will never, ever, be another Florida State athlete like Deion Sanders.