Florida State Football: Top 15 players in program history
3. Ron Simmons
Ron Simmons was a legend on the gridiron and inside the squared circle of pro wrestling. He hails from prep football mecca in Warner Robbins High School in Georgia. The future WCW Champion was the nose tackle that helped put Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles on the map from 1977-80. His Seminoles teams won 39 games over four seasons hitting the peak in 1980 with a fifth overall ranking and a consecutive Orange Bowl appearance.
Simmons held Florida State’s single-season and career sacks records until 1996 and made the College Football Hall of Fame, had his No. 50 jersey retired at FSU and finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1979.
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After college, Simmons had a brief stint in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns from 1981-82 before heading north to play in the Canadian Football League. After Canada, he played for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL from 1983-85 where he played for for legendary football coach Steve Spurrier and alongside future pro wrestler Lex Luger aka Larry Pfohl.
Moreover, he later wrestled under his given name and as Faarooq in the WWF/E, is a WWE Hall of Famer. In 1992, Simmons defeated Vader for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship becoming the first African American WCW World Heavyweight Champion.