Florida State football: 5 most underrated players in Seminoles history

Jamie Dukes was an All-American during his time with the Seminoles.

Before Florida State was Florida State, the Seminoles weren’t exactly dripping with college football talent. The 1980s and the 1990s were especially kind to the blue-blood programs in the state, but Florida State wasn’t just garnering First-Team All-American honors like they’ve tended to do over the last few decades. One guy who was a standout for them was guard Jamie Dukes.

Dukes played on the offensive interior for the Seminoles from 1982-1985. He started every game for Florida State during his four-year college career. As a senior in 1985, Dukes became the fifth consensus All-American in the history of the program. Despite his illustrious career at Florida State, Dukes went undrafted. However, he still found success at the professional level.

Dukes played 10 years in the NFL, mostly with the Atlanta Falcons. He spent eight years in Atlanta, as well as one season with the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals before retiring after the 1995 NFL season. He then went on to have a very lucrative broadcasting career in radio where he was one of the most popular hosts in Atlanta.

In his four years at Florida State, Dukes was on some variation of an All-American team, freshman, third, second, first, it didn’t matter. By the time he left Florida State, he was already a living legend. He was inducted into the FSU Hall of Fame in 1991. Despite playing the thankless positions of guard in college and center professionally, Dukes has still had a great football life.