71 days to FSU football: The best to wear No. 71 at Florida State

Although some hefty ‘Noles have worn the garnet and gold No. 71, it’s a rather thin number regarding historical greatness. In fact, only a pair of Florida State players — both offensive tackles — have earned postseason honors with 71 on their backs.

The first was Todd Fordham, who got to Tallahassee in 1993 in time for the Seminoles’ first national championship and played on some very good teams thereafter in his four-year FSU career. That career concluded in 1996, the same year that Fordham earned second-team All-ACC honors.

Menelik Watson’s stint in Tallahassee was far more brief, as he transferred in for a year prior to bolting for NFL dollars. Watson secured a 2012 All-ACC Honorable Mention a year before being drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round, the only FSU 71 taken in the NFL Draft.

Other Florida State 71s:

• Charles Kicklighter (1955)
• John McClelland (1956)
• Bob Douglas (1957)
• Dan Strickland (1957)
• Bob Swoszowski (1958-1960)
• Jim Sims (1961-1962)
• Jim Covington (1961)
• Darryll Willett (1963-1964)
• Ken Johnson (1965)
• Keith Albritton (1966)
• Harvey Zion (1967-1968)
• Wayne Spence (1969)
• Herman Brown (1973-1974)
• Tom Rushing (1975-1977)
• Bob Merson (1979-1982)
• Todd Stroud (1983-1985)
• Steve Sellers (1986)
• Jack Allen (1986-1987)
• Todd McIntosh (1989)
• Robert Williams (1991)
• Jerry Charmichael (1996-2000)
• Brian Ross (2002-2004)
• Evan Bellamy (2007)
• Garan Bertrand (2010)
• Brock Ruble (2014-present)

So let’s put this to a vote: