Best Florida State football players: Modern-era Mount Rushmore – From Primetime to Famous Jameis

Charlie Ward, quarterback

I know you’re looking at the picture like why he Charlie Ward in a New York Knicks uniform right? Ward is the only person on this list to never play a down in the NFL. He’s the only Heisman Trophy winner to play in the NBA while getting drafted in the first round. That’s how great Ward was as an athlete. Like Winston, Ward only played quarterback for two years, beginning his career as the punter and playing basketball all four years at FSU.

Ward played over a decade in the NBA, the majority of it as the point guard for the NY Knicks. He finished his NBA career averaging 6.3 points per game, 4.1 assists per game, and 1.2 steals per game.

Ward helped lead the Noles to their first national title in 1993, winning the Heisman Trophy by the fourth-largest margin ever. Ward also won the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Sporting News Player of the Year, ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and Johnny Unitas Award in 1993. He was named two-time ACC Player of the Year and two-time ACC Athlete of the Year while being named a Consensus All-American in 1993.

Ward is the originator of the FSU “Fastbreak Offense,” where he’s No.10 on the FSU career passing leaders list and No. 6 on the FSU passing touchdowns list. Ward also rushed 172 times for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns.

He was well ahead of his time, and it would be amazing to see his skills at work in today’s spread offensive systems. FSU fans always debate which quarterback they’d rather have running the two-minute offense between Ward and Winston.

There is no wrong answer as the probability of both getting your team a score is better than not.