And then there were four.
After starting out with a field of 64 of the greatest football players in Florida State football history several weeks ago, we have reached the Final Four of our Warchant Bracket Challenge.
The final spot in the semifinals was claimed on Friday by defensive tackle Ron Simmons, who defeated placekicker Sebastian Janikowski with 80.6 percent of the vote. Simmons joins defensive back Deion Sanders, defensive end Peter Boulware and quarterback Charlie Ward in the Final Four.
Here are the links to vote on the Final Four battles:
Charlie Ward vs. Peter Boulware
If you need more information and insight, we present bios on each player below:
Don't miss our great FSU sports coverage. Get your 30-day FREE trial
All voting will be done on our Tribal Council message board, and the voting window is 24 hours. Each round offers an opportunity for Warchant subscribers 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 Matchup
Charlie Ward vs. Peter Boulware
Charlie Ward left Florida State as the most decorated player in college football history. He won just about every possible individual award in 1993 and also led the Seminoles to the school's first-ever national championship. The dual-threat quarterback won the Heisman Trophy by one of the biggest margins in the history of the award and finished his career 22-2 as a starter. One of those losses came on a missed field goal at Miami, and the other was at Notre Dame in the national championship season. Ward's game-clinching 78-yard TD pass to Warrick Dunn in the 1993 Florida game is one of the biggest plays in program history. He also was the team's punter in 1989 and became a first-round NBA draft pick after starring for the FSU basketball team.
Peter Boulware holds the Florida State record for sacks in a season with 19 in 1996. He ranks second all time with 34 career sacks (Reinard Wilson has the record with 35.5), and he would have shattered the mark if he had stayed for his senior year. During that 1996 season, the lightning-fast Boulware was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous first-team All-American and the Football News National Defensive Player of the Year. The South Carolina native, who burst onto the scene with 10 sacks as a sophomore in 1995 (despite only starting two games), was one of the key cogs in a 1996 defense that allowed just 11.1 points per game in the regular season and finished with an astounding 67 sacks. Boulware was the No. 4 overall pick of the 1997 NFL Draft and went on to a stellar pro career.
Deion Sanders vs. Ron Simmons
Deion Sanders is an NFL Hall of Famer and was a two-time consensus All-American for the Seminoles in 1987 and 1988. He won the 1988 Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back and also led the country in punt-return average that season as well. As a freshman, he set a Florida State record with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown against Tulsa, and then finished off the regular season with a 58-yard punt return TD against Florida in Gainesville. From there, the highlights just kept coming for the three-sport star. He was considered the best cornerback in the nation in 1987 and then was so good in 1988 that he finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He finished off his remarkable FSU career with a game-clinching interception in the end zone against Auburn in the 1989 Sugar Bowl. For his career, he had 14 career interceptions, three of which were returned for touchdowns. He also had three punt-return TDs as well. His No. 2 jersey has been retired by Florida State.
Ron Simmons was one of the most important signees in Florida State football history and is credited by many with helping Bobby Bowden launch his legendary tenure with the Seminoles. Simmons was a one-man wrecking crew on the defensive line, earning Freshman All-America honors in 1977 and then being named a Consensus first-team All-American in 1979 and '80. Simmons was so dominant that he went on to become the first FSU defensive player to have his number retired, and he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988. During his four-year career, the Georgia product racked up 383 tackles, which still ranks No. 5 all-time in school history. He also ranks No. 4 all-time with 24 career sacks, and he's tied for fourth with 44 career tackles for loss. Simmons played briefly in the NFL and USFL before moving on to a very successful career in pro wrestling.
Winner of $25 eCard from Garnet & Gold - FSU & Golf
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.
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).
(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.)
----------------------------------------------------
Talk about this story with other Florida State football fans in the Tribal Council
