Ranking Top FSU Football Alumni in NFL History: No. 10

FSU football has sent hundreds of players to the NFL over the years – here’s another look at one of the ten best to play in the pro game.

This weekend, another class of talented former FSU Seminoles made their way to the National Football League when their respective teams drafted them. It was just another time when it was great to be associated with Florida State – a program that has sent hundreds of the best players to the next level since the first player was picked in 1951.

The list of former Noles who have excelled in the pro game is a who’s who of not just the best to come from FSU football, but some of the best to EVER play in the NFL. However, the question then becomes this: who were the best 10 players in NFL history who spent their college time in Tallahassee?

It may have been one of the hardest list we have ever had to come up with – dozens of former All-Pros, Pro Bowlers and even Super Bowl Champions didn’t make the cut. That’s how talented FSU’s crop of former players is. We also looked at the length of a career and what they did over that time – so while players like Jameis Winston, Devonta Freeman and Jalen Ramsey could make this list in another decade, they have to wait their turn.

Without further delay, here’s the latest installment of the top players in NFL history from Florida State.

Florida State Seminoles Football

No. 10 – Sebastian Janikowksi, Kicker (Oakland Raiders 2000-Present)

After booming kicks through the end zone and between the goal posts for three seasons in Tallahassee, Janikowski had the pleasure of being taken in the first round by the silver and black – at the time just the fourth kicker ever taken in the first round. The Raiders have gotten their money worth with a player who has spent 17 seasons with the franchise and could be with them when they move to Las Vegas in a few years.

In his career in the Bay Area, the former FSU football star has hit 414 field goals (and average of over 24 each season) while missing just six of his 563 extra point attempts over that span. He currently either holds the record or ties for it in several categories, including most field goals over 50 yards (and most in one game) and most field goals over 60 yards.

He also is someone who hasn’t slowed down with age, being named an alternate to his first Pro Bowl in the 2010 season (adding a second one the season later, where he hit the most extra points in the game’s history) while being named an All-Pro for the first time in 2011. There is no doubt that Janikowski, baring a major injury, will be playing for at least a full two decades if not longer.