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FSU football: 10 greatest Seminoles of the Bobby Bowden era

There have been plenty of great players that Bowden brought to Tallahassee and sent off to the NFL, but which Seminoles had the best careers at FSU from 1976 to 2009?

By Josh Yourish

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Florida State Seminoles v Boston College Eagles / Mitchell Layton/GettyImages
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. Ron Simmons. 435. Ron Simmons. player. . DT. FSU Bowden Era. 1977-80. 5

Career Tackles: 483

Awards: College Football Hall of Fame inductee, 2x consensus All-American, 3x First Team All-South

You may think that 235 pounds for a nose guard is a little light, and you would be correct. Simmons was undersized to play in the middle of the FSU defense, but he was plenty physical. That physicality made him Bowden's first great defensive player.

He finished his career with 483 tackles, a school record 44 tackles for loss, and 17 forced fumbles. He ranks near the top in the FSU program history of almost every defensive statistic. As a nose guard, he finished ninth in Heisman Trophy voting in 1979.

Simmons didn't have much of a career in professional football because of his size, so after two seasons in the USFL, he transitioned to professional wrestling and had a 20-year career in WCW and WWE.

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