The FSU football program is not what it once was when it comes to producing the nation’s top prospects for the professional level at the wide receiver position — being excluded from ESPN’s list of schools worthy of the “WRU” label that included USC, LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Ohio State — but it has and will always feature some of the all-time game-breakers in the passing game.
To that end, the Seminoles have someone on the career receiving yardage list and the single-game touchdown list, proving greatness can be sustained over years or concentrated on one given Saturday in the Florida Panhandle.
Chop Chat is here to present those who had staying power and made the all-time history books for career yardage.
Here are the FSU football program’s top 10 all-time receivers
FSU football career receiving leader No. 10: Craphonso Thorpe
- 2,153 receiving yards
- 18 touchdowns
- 17.5 yards per catch
Craphonso Thorpe was a Tallahassee native that excelled at both route-running and pass protection, serving as a star corner and wideout at Lincoln High School. In Thorpe’s junior year of high school, Lincon won the state title.
A First-Team All-ACC receiver, Thorpe was never part of a Florida State squad that lost more than four games. Twice, those Seminoles went to a New Year’s Six bowl game (2002, 2003).
While his NFL career only saw him accumulate 12 receptions for 70 yards with just one touchdown, Thorpe was able to bounce around the league for five years before having to settle for the now-defunct UFL.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 9: Mike Shumann
- 2,306 receiving yards
- 16 touchdowns
- 17.2 yards per catch
While his records have fallen, Mike Shumann was once the greatest receiver in the history of Florida State’s football program because of a five-year career that saw him take off from the sport in 1976. Shumann ranked second in career receptions (134), third in yardage, and sixth in touchdowns during the Tallahassee native’s time in a Seminoles uniform.
A member of the 1981 San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl XVI championship team, Shumann lasted half a decade in the NFL before signing with the USFL’s Oakland Invaders. While never a star at the next level, Shumann was undeniable during his FSU football career.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 8: Travis Rudolph
- 2,311 receiving yards
- 18 touchdowns
- 15.1 yards per catch
Travis Rudolph is a polarizing figure these days, but he has been undeniably the greatest receiver of the post-BCS/College Football Playoff era following Florida State’s last national championship in 2013/14.
In his second season, Rudolph led the Seminoles in receptions (59), receiving yards (916), and touchdown receptions (seven), and upped the ante during the 2015 Peach Bowl with seven catches for 201 yards in a loss against Houston. He replicated that seven-touchdown season his junior year, and parlayed that into being signed as an undrafted NFL free agent.
Rudolph was recently acquitted of murder charges, but the charges being levied in the first place is a major black mark on his public persona and likely means his professional football career is on hold if not completely done for, indefinitely.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 7: Barry Smith
- 2,392 receiving yards
- 16 touchdowns
- 20.1 yards per catch
Barry Smith was another great Seminole athlete who dominated in more than one sport. Smith was not only a First Team All-American Wide Receiver and NCAA leader in touchdown receptions and receiving yards but a relay champion as well.
Smith would go on to become an NFC Rookie of the Year finalist and the recipient of the Green Bay Packer Man of the Year honor in 1975, though polio cut his career short a few years later. The West Palm Beach native became a Hall-of-Famer in the Sunshine State in November 2022.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 6: Greg Carr
- 2,574 receiving yards
- 29 touchdowns
- 17.4 yards per catch
The six-foot-six Greg Carr was both a football and basketball star at Ocala-area North Marion High School, but he went all-in on the football path at Florida State and was rewarded in record time — leading the Seminoles in yards per reception (20.6) and receiving touchdowns (nine) during his freshman season. In the process, Carr tied the ACC record for receiving touchdowns by a freshman previously held by Heath Miller.
Carr didn’t stick in the NFL, being released by the then-San Diego Chargers before getting a chance to play in a regular season game. He did, however, stick around in the CFL and arena football for nearly a decade.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 5: Kez McCorvey
- 2,660 receiving yards
- 16 touchdowns
- 14.1 yards per catch
Kez McCorvey was part of the title-winning 1993 Florida State team, hauling in 72 receptions en route to the two-point Orange Bowl win over Nebraska. As Charlie Ward’s top weapon in the Seminoles offense, McCorvey would finish behind only Ron Sellers with the most catches in program history at that point.
McCorvey lasted just a few years in the NFL on the Detroit Lions before pivoting to a more permanent career in coaching later in life in the CFL, where he had spent the last few years of his playing career. He’s held steady employment coaching in the CFL since 2012.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 4: E.G. Green
- 2,920 receiving yards
- 29 touchdowns
- 17.6 yards per catch
E.G. Green starred on the Fort Walton Beach Vikings along with Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel — Green’s Seminoles would best Wuerffel’s Gators 2-1-1 in the Florida Cup — before embarking on a record-breaking career in Tallahassee. Green was the all-time leader in receiving touchdowns (29) by the time he left the program.
Green wound up being a third-round NFL draft pick but wouldn’t stick after suffering a fractured leg during a postseason contest between his Indianapolis Colts against the Tennessee Titans. He is now the head coach for Destin High School.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 3: Peter Warrick
- 3517 receiving yards
- 32 touchdowns
- 17 yards per catch
After helping lead Southeast High School in Bradenton to consecutive state titles while also being named the best basketball player in the state of Florida, Peter Warrick propelled the Seminoles to back-to-back BCS National Championship appearances following the 1998 and 1999 seasons.
Florida State got over the top in 2000 due to a Sugar Bowl MVP performance from Warrick, who went for 160 receiving yards and three touchdowns. FSU knocked off Michael Vick’s Virginia Tech Hokies by three scores.
Warrick lived up to the hype he received following his high school career, but he never lived up to his No. 4 pick from the 2000 NFL draft billing. Had he not been suspended two games during the 1999 season, it’s possible he could’ve even been a Heisman, boosting what was already a legendary college career.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 2: Ron Sellers
- 3598 receiving yards
- 23 touchdowns
- 17.1 yards per catch
Ron Sellers owns several Florida State program records at the receiver position: single-season receptions (86), single-season receiving (1,496), single-game receptions (16), single-game receiving yards (270), and single-game receiving touchdowns (five). While he played during a different era of athlete development, Sellers was still one of the state’s greatest athletes during the 1960s; starring on the hardwood and the gridiron.
Sellers didn’t see that success translate to the NFL, flip-flopping from being a starter and reserve. A championship is on his record, but Sellers was released by the 1973 Miami Dolphins before their victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Super Bowl VIII.
FSU football career receiving leader No. 1: Rashad Greene
- 3830 receiving yards
- 29 touchdowns
- 14.2 yards per catch
Rashad Greene was a 4-star recruit entering his freshman season, but after four seasons in Tallahassee that included a BCS National Championship in which he amassed nine receptions for 147 yards, he left Tallahassee as the greatest receiver in program history. Greene surpassed Sellers in career receptions (270) and receiving yards and would also set the record for receptions in a season (99).
Greene was never nearly as relevant in the NFL, having been a reserve on the Jacksonville Jaguars for three seasons and never amassing more than 100 receiving yards in a given season. His lone two pro career touchdowns came in his rookie season.
Still, Greene will (or at least should) never pay for a meal in the Florida Panhandle again after helping Jameis Winston bring FSU its third and (as of this writing, last) national championship.