Florida State Football: Top 15 players in program history

4. Chris Weinke

Chris Weinke enrolled at Florida State University at 26 years old to play college football in 1997. Weinke, who played baseball in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system out of high school, was a man amongst boys during his time in Tallahassee.

As the elder statesman of the program, Weinke was a three-year starter from 1998-2000 after sparse playing time in the 1997 season behind Thad Busby. He took over the starting role in 1998 and never looked back. The ‘Noles were 9-1 and held a No. 2 ranking before Weinke was knocked out with a season ending neck injury.

During the 1999 season, Weinke threw for over 3,000 yards and 25 touchdowns to lead the Seminoles to their second-ever national title.

Weinke opted to return to FSU for his senior season and at 28 years of age became the oldest Heisman Trophy winner.

In 2001, Weinke had his jersey retired at Florida State after finishing his career with a 32-3 record as a starter. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft but only threw 15 career touchdowns over his NFL lifespan. He finished his FSU career averaging 8.9 yards per passing attempt and tossing 79 touchdown passes.

In 2016, the former gunslinger served as an offensive analyst at Alabama under Nick Saban and for the 2018 season he will be coaching running backs under Jeremy Pruitt at Tennessee. As a three-sport star in high school playing baseball, football and hockey, Weinke has found his lifetime love in football.