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Published Apr 9, 2020
After one early upset, Brooks, Sawyer lead battles in Bracket Challenge
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Ira Schoffel  •  TheOsceola
Managing Editor
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@iraschoffel

We've had the first official upset in our Warchant Bracket Challenge -- the quest to identify the fans' choice of the top player in Florida State football history.

After higher seeds prevailed in every previous matchup, No. 10 seed Lamarcus Joyner knocked off No. 7 seed Paul McGowan with 55 of the vote on the Tribal Council and roughly 83 percent on Twitter. No. 2 seed Marvin Jones had absolutely no trouble, however, soaring past his competition with nearly 99 percent of the votes on Warchant and almost 91 percent on Twitter.

Our version of Seminole Madness continues today with the final two matchups in our Defensive Playmakers bracket.

No. 3 seed Derrick Brooks vs. No. 14 seed Dexter Jackson

No. 6 seed Corey Sawyer vs. No. 11 seed Derwin James

If you need more information and insight, we present bios on each player below:

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In addition to voting on our Tribal Council message board, you can also submit your vote on Warchant's Twitter account. The voting window is 24 hours, and each round offers an opportunity for Warchant subscribers and Twitter users to win a $25 e-card to Garnet & Gold. That prize will go to the person who makes the most compelling and/or original argument for their vote.

If you already know who gets your vote, click here to make your picks on the Tribal Council:

The Matchups

No. 3 seed Derrick Brooks vs. No. 14 seed Dexter Jackson

Derrick Brooks signed with Florida State after being named the USA Today National Defensive Player of the Year in high school, and he certainly lived up to that billing. Brooks accomplished nearly everything a defensive player could at the college level, earning first-team All-ACC honors three times, consensus All-America honors twice, and he led the Seminoles to the 1993 national championship. During that campaign, he returned two interceptions for touchdowns, which is tied for a school record. Brooks went on to be a first-round pick of the Tampa Buccaneers and earned 11 Pro Bowl honors on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Dexter Jackson signed with the Seminoles as a highly decorated quarterback but made the switch to defensive back early in his freshman year and actually contributed some on special teams and defense that season. As a sophomore in 1996, Jackson made a number of big plays and announced his arrival on the college level. In the third game of that season, Jackson blocked two punts in the same game -- in a 13-0 win against No. 11 North Carolina -- to tie a school record that he still shares today. In his first season as a full-time starting safety, Jackson finished fourth on the team with 81 tackles; he also broke up nine passes. After shining again as a senior, Jackson was drafted in the fourth round by Tampa Bay and won Super Bowl MVP honors following the 2002 NFL season.

No. 6 seed Corey Sawyer vs. No. 11 seed Derwin James

Corey Sawyer was another in the long line of high school quarterbacks who developed into big-time defensive backs at Florida State. After playing sparingly as a freshman, Sawyer grabbed a starting -- and starring -- role for the Seminoles in 1992. He intercepted seven passes as a sophomore and claimed second-team All-America honors. As a junior, he picked off six more passes and was named a Consensus All-American while leading FSU to its first national championship. Sawyer ended up declaring early for the NFL Draft after that season. His seven interceptions in '92 is tied for the fifth-best total in school history, and he also ranks fifth in career interceptions with 13.

Derwin James was the nation's No. 1 safety coming out of high school and needed no time to adjust to the college level. James earned a starting job early in the 2015 season and turned in one of the most productive freshman campaigns in school history -- he recorded 91 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. After missing nearly his entire sophomore season with a knee injury, James was very productive again in 2017, recording 84 tackles with two interceptions and 11 pass breakups. James left for the NFL after playing just 27 games in college and was selected in the first round by the Los Angeles Chargers.

Winner of $25 eCard from Garnet & Gold - islandchief


Click here to make your votes on the Tribal Council. If you're not yet a member of Warchant.com, start your 30-day Free Trial today. (Votes also can be placed through the poll at our official account on Twitter, @Warchant.)

About the tournament

We've broken down the field of 64 into four 16-team brackets:

* Offensive Playmakers

* Defensive Playmakers

* Linemen (offensive and defensive)

* Legends/Special Teams

The first three "regions" are pretty self-explanatory. The final one is a combination of eight Seminole "legends," which we've defined as players who graduated by 1985 (just before the Dynasty era really began), and eight special-teams players.

The special-teams players were broken down further into two four-team brackets -- kickers/punters and "specialists" (return men or players who specialized in blocking kicks).

* CLICK HERE for a printable bracket

(Note: Players who already held a spot in one of the other categories were not eligible to also be selected as specialists. That is why Deion Sanders, Peter Warrick and Terrell Buckley are not listed there.)

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Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council

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