 July 2012 Archives
There are now two former Florida State offensive lineman playing for Kansas City as the Chiefs signed veteran tackle Ray Willis Tuesday. Willis joins 2010 second-round pick Rodney Hudson as 'Noles on Kansas City's line.
Former FSU safety Terrance Parks is also on the roster fighting for a regular-season spot. Willis last played for Seattle when he started 16 games for the Seahawks in 2009. He has since had short stints with the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
CBSSports.com just released its preseason top 25 college football poll and Florida State is ranked No. 7.
To see the full story, click here.
CBSSports.com released its Preseason All-American Team Monday afternoon and then began announcing its all-conference squads later in the day.
When the Preseason All-ACC Team was announced, eight Florida State players made the list, including quarterback EJ Manuel, wide receiver Rashad Greene, defensive end Brandon Jenkins, linebacker Christian Jones, cornerback Xavier Rhodes, safety Lamarcus Joyner, kicker Dustin Hopkins and specialist Greg Reid. FSU's eight selections are the most of any team in the conference. To see the complete team, click here to access CBSSports.com's full story.
CBSSports.com released its 2012 Preseason College Football All-America Team Monday afternoon and Florida State defensive back Xavier Rhodes and return man Greg Reid both earned second-team honors.
Here are the full first and second teams, courtesy of CBSSports.com:
Second Team Offense -- QB: Denard Robinson, Michigan; RB: Knile Davis, Arkansas; Joseph Randle, Oklahoma State; WR: Kenny Stills, Oklahoma; Marquise Lee, USC; Keenan Allen, California; TE: Philip Lutzenkirchen, Auburn; OT: Ricky Wagner, Wisconsin; Taylor Lewan, Michigan; OG: Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma; Jonathan Cooper, North Carolina; C: Khaled Homes, USC. Defense -- DE: William Gholston, Michigan State; Barkevious Mingo, LSU; DT: Jesse Williams, Alabama; John Jenkins, Georgia; LB: Shayne Skov, Stanford; Chris Borland, Wisconsin; Arthur Brown, Kansas State; CB: Xavier Rhodes, Florida State; Nickell Robey, USC; S: Tony Jefferson, Oklahoma; Robert Lester, Alabama. Special Teams -- K: Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma State; P: Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech; KR: Tavon Austin, West Virginia;PR: Greg Reid, Florida State; All-Purpose: De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon. Florida State's 2012 football season is just around the corner and so too is the program's annual kickoff luncheon. Click the graphic below to reserve a spot at the Donald L. Tucker Center Aug. 24 and get a chance to meet the team and hear head coach Jimbo Fisher's thoughts on the upcoming year. 
Are you an aspiring sports photographer with a passion for Florida State football? Here's your chance to join the Seminoles.com crew as we gear up to cover another season of Seminole football, starting with fall practices Aug. 6. We are currently looking for a sports photography intern that will be available to shoot the first 15 to 20 minutes of each FSU practice during fall camp in August. There will also be an opportunity to take photos during the 'Noles' games this year at Doak Campbell Stadium. if you are interested, e-mail a few examples of your work, your resume and your daily hours available in August to Brandon Mellor at bmellor@fsu.edu. If you do not have a camera, we can provide one for you to use while at practice.
Former Florida State cornerback Antonio Cromartie could get a chance to play some wide receiver this season -- this according to New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan.
Courtesy of ProFootballTalk.com: Antonio Cromartie is good enough with the ball in his hands that he owns the NFL record for the longest touchdown ever, a 109-yard return of a missed field goal. So it makes sense that the Jets plan to get the ball in his hands more often. Jets coach Rex Ryan said today that in addition to his primary role as a starting cornerback, Cromartie could become a two-way player this season, and that they've already discussed lining him up at wide receiver. Cromartie has never caught a pass in his NFL career, but he has lined up at wide receiver on a couple of occasions and once ran the ball on an end-around. He also had been expected to play some wide receiver during his final season at Florida State, although he ended up missing his last year of college football after suffering a torn ACL during summer workouts. Ryan, who also plans to make backup quarterback Tim Tebow a jack-of-all-trades player both on offense and on special teams, emphasized the importance of getting as much production out of the talents of every player on his roster as he possibly can. Cromartie has the talent to make plays at receiver, and it makes sense that Ryan plans to use him there.
Join hosts Ryan Pensy and Brandon Mellor for an all-new Doak Insider Podcast.
Ryan and Brandon attended the 2012 ACC Football Kickoff and they discuss a bevy of topics on this weeks show. Among the topics, how EJ Manuel and Brandon Jenkins handle success, Coach Fisher's preference for eight conference games, the depth at the WR position, freshman who could make an immediate impact and the depth chart at RB and QB. Make sure to share the Doak Insider Podcast with your friends and follow us online at Seminoles.com. You can email the show at fsupodcast@gmail.com.
Former Florida State center Bernard James signed a contract today with the Dallas Mavericks after the franchise chose him in the second round of last month's draft. Here is Jeff Caplan's story on the signing of the former FSU big man, courtesy of ESPNDallas.com: Bernard James became the last of the Dallas Mavericks' three draft choices to sign a contract, the team announced Wednesday. The 6-10 center was the 33rd overall pick out of Florida State and a former staff sergeant in the Air Force with three tours of duty overseas under his belt. The 27-year-old's contract will be guaranteed for next season at $473,604. James is now the 14th player under contract with Delonte West expected to officially re-sign soon to take the roster to the maximum 15. James had a strong Summer League showing in Las Vegas, averaging 10.2 points and finishing fifth in the league in rebounding with 9.0 boards a game. He is expected to backup starting center Chris Kaman and Elton Brand, who will likely split time off the bench behind Dirk Nowitzki at power forward and center. Guard Jared Cunningham, the 24th overall pick, and small forward Jae Crowder, the 34th pick, signed their contracts last week. Florida State's Brandon Jenkins, Lamarcus Joyner, Dustin Hopkins and Greg Reid were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team Wednesday (story here). Here are the total number of votes for the top four vote-getters at each position. Offense Quarterback
Running Back (Top 2)
Wide Receiver (Top 2)
Tight End
Offensive Tackle (Top 2)
Offensive Guard (Top 2)
Center
Defense Defensive End (Top 3)
Defensive Tackle (Top 3)
Linebacker (Top 3)
Cornerback (Top 2)
Safety (Top 2)
Placekicker
Punter
Specialist
Florida State's "Paint it Pink" campaign for breast-cancer awareness and research proved to be tremendously successful during the 2011-12 athletics season, as the initiative raised a grand total of $9,811.66. Here is a statement from the FSU Marketing Department, thanking the many generous Seminoles fans that donated money, wore pink to athletic events and spread the word about the campaign: "Thank you to all of our fans for contributing to Paint it Pink and to our sponsors FOX49 and T-Formations for their gracious support. The 2011-12 season raised $9,811.66 for Tallahassee Memorial Hopsital! Since its inception in 2009, the campaign has raised over $30,000 for the Sharon Ewing Walker Breast Health Center at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Each women's team hosts one pink event per year and fans who donate $10 or more received a commemorative T-shirt in appreciation for their generosity. Additionally, online auctions were held on Seminoles.com for game-worn pink memorabilia. It is through efforts like the 'Paint It Pink' campaign that we move closer to a cure and we couldn't do it without the Tallahassee community and our Seminole family."
Florida State football players report for fall camp Aug. 5 and then practice gets started the following day in preparation or a highly anticipated 2012 season.
Here's a look at the reporting and first-practice dates of each team in the Atlantic Coast Conference: 
Courtesy of the Atlantic Coast Conference: GREENSBORO, N.C. (ACSMA & theACC.com) -- Florida State, seeking its first league title since 2005, is the consensus choice to win the Atlantic Division and to defeat Virginia Tech in the 8th Annual Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game according to a poll of media members attending this week's ACC Football Kickoff at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C. This is the second straight year that Florida State has been projected to win the ACC Football Championship, as the Seminoles were tapped by the media last July to win the 2011 title. Clemson was the actual 2011 ACC Football Champion, defeating Virginia Tech 38-10 in the 2011 ACC title game in Charlotte. Clemson sophomore wide receiver Sammy Watkins (Fort Myers, Fla.), who set ACC single-season freshman records for receptions (82), reception yardage (1,219) and receiving touchdowns (12), was the choice for Preseason Player of the Year. Watkins received 25 votes and nudged out Virginia Tech junior quarterback Logan Thomas (Lynchburg, Va.) who had 21 votes. The Preseason Player of the Year ballotting was a close, four-person race with Florida State senior quarterback EJ Manuel (Virginia Beach, Va.) coming in third with 19 votes and Watkins' junior teammate, quarterback Tajh Boyd (Hampton, Va.), finishing fourth with 18. The Seminoles of coach Jimbo Fisher, who finished second in the Atlantic last year, received 72 of 95 first-place votes in that portion of the balloting. Sixty of the 95 also said Florida State will prevail in the title game, set for Dec. 1 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The Hokies, who have captured five of the seven Coastal Division crowns since the ACC went to divisional play in 2005, got 83 votes in the Coastal election. Eighteen electors picked Virginia Tech to garner its fourth ACC football championship in the last six years. Georgia Tech, which faces the Hokies in Blacksburg in the season opener for both teams on Sept. 3, Labor Day Monday Night (ESPN, 8 p.m.), was chosen to finish second in the Coastal with 10 first-place votes, while Clemson was projected as the runnerup in the Atlantic with 17 first-place votes.
Courtesy of AthlonSports.com
Kickoff for the 2012 college football season is still two months away, but it's never too early to project how the year might play out. Athlon will be taking a look at how each position stacks up in the BCS conferences and nationally until the start of the season. Each unit ranking was evaluated based upon how it will perform in 2012 - not how the team played in 2011. Ranking the ACC's Defensive Lines for 2012
Charlotte, N.C. - Raycom Sports' multi-Emmy Award-winning summer television series, "Havoline Football Saturdays in the South," continues its ninth season this weekend. The series, with six one-hour episodes, is hosted by Tim Brando and syndicated in 77 markets throughout the country.
This week's show catches up with Florida State legend Derrick Brooks. After an All-American career helping the Seminoles to the 1993 National Championship, Brooks was drafted by Tampa Bay in the 1995 NFL Draft. He went on to be a nine-time All-Pro, the 2002 AP Defensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl Champion. Catch up with him as he takes on a new challenge, President of the AFL Tampa Bay Storm. We then visit with Clemson's newest walk-on, receiver Daniel Rodriguez. Attending Clemson on the G.I. Bill, Rodriguez served two tours of duty...one in Iraq and a second in Afghanistan where he achieved the rank of Sergeant in the Army while earning a Bronze Star and Purple Heart in October of 2009. Go through the grind of his workout routine and hear how he has made the transition from a soldier to a Tiger to realize his dream of playing college football. And in the Road Trip segment, Tommy Kane visits Blacksburg and joins the Corps of Cadets of Virginia Tech for boot camp. After being put through his paces, Kane then experiences gameday as a part of this great Hokie tradition. For a complete listing of local affiliates and airtimes, please visit http://www.raycomsports.com/football-saturdays-in-the-south/. Based in Charlotte, Raycom Sports is a leading independent sports marketing, event management and production firm. Raycom is the syndicated television rightsholder of ACC men's basketball and football telecasts. Raycom Sports' parent company Raycom Media, located in Montgomery, AL, owns and operates 48 television stations covering over 12 percent of the United States across 18 states.
The 2012 Florida State football poster was officially unveiled yesterday evening. Fans that wish to purchase the poster can do so next week when a link is made available on Seminoles.com.
Booker had spent the last two seasons with the Minnesota Vikings after being drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He also played briefly for the Philadelphia Eagles. In 36 career NFL games, Booker has accrued 230 yards on 61 rushing attempts and 362 yards on 47 catches. He was primarily a kick returner in Minnesota and has a career mark of 879 yards on kickoffs. Booker is the second former FSU player to join the Bears this off-season. Geno Hayes signed a free agent deal with the Windy City club after leaving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent. With Booker's signing, there are now three FSU players on the roster with defensive end Chauncey Davis being the third.
Florida State kicker Dustin Hopkins is one of several college football student-athletes named nominees for the AFCA Good Works Team as announced Tuesday afternoon. Courtesy of the AFCA: NORTHBROOK, Ill. - July 17, 2012 - Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) today announced 117 nominees for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®. As one of college football's most prestigious off-the-field honors, the award recognizes a select group of college football players committed to making a difference in their communities. Since 1992, the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® has shown a spotlight on the countless "good works" and remarkable stories of service by student-athletes at all levels of college football competition. Award recipients represent the sport's finest in terms of character and leadership in the community. "This year's Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® nominees have some of the most impressive community service resumes in the program's 21-year history," said Kathy Mabe, president of Allstate's West regions and a member of the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team voting panel. "These young men continue to raise the bar for the impact that student-athletes can have on others, and are an inspiration to Allstate, our agents and our employees." Tackles or touchdowns have no bearing on this award, for it is the many examples of "volunteerism" and "giving back" that have earned these players nominations from their respective colleges and universities. From comforting patients at children's hospitals, to building houses for needy families, to mentoring at-risk youth, each Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® member has his own unique and inspiring story. "After looking through the list of nominees for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, we are recognizing some of the best student-athletes in all of college football," said Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. "These 117 nominees understand the impact each of them have on their schools and communities, and it gives me great pleasure in recognizing their efforts for what they stand for, and what they mean to college football." From the nominees submitted by sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, a special voting panel consisting of former Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® members and prominent college football media members will select two 11-player Good Works Teams® - one comprised of players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and another representing players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III, and the NAIA. The final roster of 22 award recipients will be unveiled in September. Allstate and the AFCA will launch the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® website on ESPN.com featuring profiles and images of the final team members, as well as the opportunity for fans to vote for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® Captain. The 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team® voting panel includes: former Good Works Team® members Alex Van Pelt (Pittsburgh, 1992 team), Zaid Abdul-Aleem (Duke, 1994 team), Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia, 1997, 1998 teams), Grant Irons (Notre Dame, 1999 team), Brian Brenberg (St. Thomas, 2001 team), Mike Proman (Amherst, 2002 team); media members Lou Holtz (ESPN), Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN), Tom O'Toole (USA Today), Andy Staples (SI.com), Blair Kerkhoff (Kansas City Star); current AFCA President and Harvard University Head Coach Tim Murphy; 1987 AFCA President LaVell Edwards, former head coach at Brigham Young University; and Kathy Mabe, President, West Regions at Allstate. In order to meet the criteria set forth by Allstate and the AFCA, each player must be actively involved and committed to working with a charitable organization, service group or community service while maintaining a strong academic standing. The following players have been nominated for consideration to be named to the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®.
Florida State seniors EJ Manuel and Brandon Jenkins will represent the Seminoles for the second year in a row at the Atlantic Coast Conference's annual kickoff event. Held in Greensboro, N.C. this year, ACC Football Kickoff provides an opportunity for media from across the country to meet with two players and the head coach from each team in the conference in preparation for the new season.
Seminoles.com staff members will be in attendance both days, tweeting updates, writing stories, shooting video and providing behind-the-scenes information on Manuel and Jenkins as well as pertinent updates on the 'Noles' opponents in 2012. Here is a list of each program's representatives for the two-day event: 
The Football Bowl Association announced the schedule for all 35 college football bowl games Tuesday morning.
Here's a look at all the game dates and times:  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Seminoles fans in the Jacksonville area now have a new radio home for Florida State broadcasts. FSU and IMG College, which manages the multimedia rights for the school, announced Monday morning that 94.1 WSOS-FM will serve as the new exclusive affiliate for all 'Noles football and men's basketball game-broadcasts as well as the Jimbo Fisher and Leonard Hamilton call-in shows in the Jacksonville area.
"Renda Broadcasting of Jacksonville is very excited to be affiliated with the Florida State University and the Seminole IMG Sports Network," said Bill Reese, Renda Broadcasting's general manager for the company's Jacksonville stations. "FSU has a proud history and tremendous fan following that is second to none and we view our newly formed affiliation as an awesome opportunity for FSU, the Seminole IMG Sports Network and Renda Broadcasting of Jacksonville." Florida State's 2012 football season is set to kick off in less than two months with the Seminoles expected to compete for a conference and national championship. The FSU men's basketball season then gets started later in the fall. The call-in shows for both Fisher and Hamilton take place weekly during their respective team's seasons. About IMG College IMG College is the leading collegiate multimedia, marketing and licensing/brandmanagement company in America representing more than 200 of the nation's top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAAFootball, leading conferences, and many of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country. Headquartered in Winston Salem, N.C., IMG College employs more than 700 people in nearly 100 offices throughout the U.S., capturing consumer devotion to college sports through partnership opportunities in multimedia rights, licensing, events and hospitality, marketing, stadium and arena development, stadium seating solutions, ticketing, sales, and consulting. IMG College produces nearly 30,000 hours of radio programming on the largest independent sports network in the country, manages nearly 5,000 hours of local television programming, is the leading publisher of college sports publications, and is the largest manager of university athletic websites. IMG College is a division of IMG Worldwide, a global sports, fashion and media business. For more information, please visit www.imgworld.com.
Courtesy of the Associated Press:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Former Florida State cornerback Mario Edwards has returned to his alma mater where he'll be able to keep a close eye on his highly recruited son's career. Sports information director Elliott Finebloom confirmed Friday that Edwards began his duties this week as the director of player development for coach Jimbo Fisher. The position is not technically a coaching job. Edwards' son, Mario Jr., was considered the top defensive end prospect in the nation in this year's recruiting class. The 6-foot-4, 290-pound Edwards played at Ryan High School in Denton, Texas, and was USA Today's national defensive player of the year. His dad played at FSU in the late 1990s. Edwards senior replaces former Seminoles All American Terrell Buckley, who is now an assistant coach on Terry Bowden's staff at Akron. 
Fans will have the chance to play as Deion Sanders in the latest version of Madden 13. More information can be found here. MOST RECENT POSTS
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