I couldn’t tell you where I first heard the term. But I can tell you when I heard it, I instantly fell in love and I would never stop using it. “Noleblooded”–I think is the perfect term to describe a die hard Nole fan like me. In my mind, I truly bleed garnet and gold. I have since the day I was born. My Dad was a Seminole fan and he passed it down to me. To be fair, I don’t even think he realized what he was doing. But some of my earliest and fondest memories are of him and his friends watching the Noles play. I couldn’t tell you the first game I ever watched because I was probably in a crib as it was being played. I just know for as long as I can remember the Noles have been a part of my life. Yes, I believe I was born a Nole fan. However, in this blog I am going to highlight some of the reasons why I stayed a Nole and never rebelled against my pops like a lot of kids tend to do.

The 1991 Season

Ok, hear me out. This may seem strange at first glance since I was born in 1993; the same year we won our first National Championship (which can’t be a coincidence). But why would the 1991 Season be so special to me? Well, let me take you to a Friday night in 1999. My fellow millennials can tell you all about renting a movie for the weekend at your local video store. Some people had Blockbusters. Some people had Hollywood Videos. But for me and my family down in Palm Bay, Florida–our spot was Movie Gallery. I’ll never forget one particular Friday my lovely mother let me choose the video we were going to bring home (big mistake on her end). Now most kids would gravitate towards the classics: “The Might Morphing Power Rangers”, The first Rugrats movie (shoutout to my dog Spike he was a real one– if you know you know), or even my all time favorite movie “The Sandlot”. But not tonight. And besides, I already had those movies so they can get watched anytime. What got my attention was a VHS about the 1991 FSU Football season. I have scoured the internet for any semblance of this VHS and have had no luck. In fact, the reason this blog took so long to come out was because I got discouraged that I could not find any evidence of it’s existence. But I know it exists because I watched it religiously for much of my youth. Ask any Seminole fan and they will tell you the ’91 season was one of the most interesting seasons in FSU history. The Noles started that season ranked as the preseason #1 and had a lot of hype. They were returning studs like Terrell Buckley, Marvin Jones, Kirk Carruthers, Amp Lee, and Casey Weldon–just to name a few. What stood out to me about that season and that specific VHS tape was one game: #1 FSU vs #3 Michigan in the big house. I’ll never forget the way the narrator described Michigan and the big house. He gave the program so much reverence, it instantly hooked me. Now that I am older I understand that Michigan is a blue blood, they are the standard of big time college football. Everything about them was big, their stadium, their players–it was all big. I guess that’s why it was called the big house. It didn’t matter though, our Noles showed no fear on that September day. I will never forget the first highlight they showed was T-buck jumping that hitch route to eventual Heisman trophy winner, Desmond Howard. It was a thing of beauty so much so that I’m going to put in this blog :

Man!!! Once I watched that play I was locked in. Noles went on to dominate that game behind a great defensive performance. They had an offensive on slaughter led by Casey Weldon who had 3 touchdowns and over 250 passing yards. As well as the great Amp Lee who had a smooth 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. All my Noleblooded brethren know what happens next. Noles dominated most of the remainder of their season beating teams like #10 Syracuse, going to Death Valley and beating LSU at night (we kind of own them lowkey), and at the time fellow independent teams Louisville and South Carolina (remember this was a year before we joined the ACC). Unfortunately, November 16th we hosted rival Miami and what would become known as the first “Wide Right” game. We would then go on to lose a defensive battle to Florida to end the regular season. We end up beating Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl to continue our streak of top 4 finishes–finishing #4 in both polls. So as you can see, the season had it highs and lows. The joy I felt watching the scene of the Noles winning in the big house was unmatched. However, the sadness of seeing them lose those last two games against Miami and Florida only fostered my hatred for both of those teams to new heights. Again, I watched that VHS so many times and it gave me many reasons to hate both Miami and UF. Looking back though, you could tell that the ’91 season was important. It was the building blocks for that ’93 team. That VHS is a huge reason for me being Noleblooded, but it’s not the last.

1999 National Championship

Alright this one is a little obvious, but if you’re a Nole fan this has to be one of the reasons why. The 1999 team was so special, never had the hype of a team been matched or exceeded like it was with this team. What I loved about this team was everyone knew that they were elite. They knew it. We knew it. The fans of other teams knew it. Hell, even players and coaches of opposing teams knew it. They beat teams before they even stepped on the field. They outscored opponents 458- 203, straight domination. Peter Warrick was the most electrifying player in the country–and to me he is the most electrifying player of all time. That Peter Warrick dead leg lived up to it’s name and it was truly deadly. He was a joy to watch. And that defense, man. Their was speed everywhere. So much so, that it made it look like other offenses were moving in slow motion. I’ll never forget the BCS Championship game I was 6 going on 7 so at the time I had a bedtime and I remember my mom letting me stay up to watch the 1st half of the game. I also begged her to record it for me so I could watch the rest of the game as soon as I woke up the next day. Much like the 1991 season recap, I must’ve watched that game a hundred times. Constantly rewinding the blocked punt TD, The Peter Warrick kick return, or the Peter Warrick double catch that was a dagger to Hokies fans everywhere. Man, Pdub was on a mission that day. Truly one of the better championship game performances that doesn’t get talked about enough. After that if you weren’t a Nole–you were probably just a hater LOL!!!!

2000 Pigskin Classic FSU vs BYU in Jacksonville

Most Nole fans wouldn’t give this game a second look. It was the season opener for the defending National Champs and everyone knew FSU was going to win. So why is this game so special to me? Simple, it was my first. It was the first time I got to see my beloved Noles in person. The first time I heard the Warchant live, the first time I could do the Tomahawk Chop with thousands of Noles fans at the same time. It was the first time I could see the lights coming off that golden helmet with the garnet spear (the best helmet in college football and it ain’t even close). The fist time I watched the Legendary Bobby Bowden walk up and down the sideline. It was also the first time I realized Florida State speed was different. It looked like FSU was moving 10 times faster than BYU. It was a dominate game by the Noles where they ended up winning 29-3–and honestly it should have been a lot worse. But I left that stadium thinking two things: (1) I was going to go to FSU– I knew this university and culture was going to be a part of my life forever, and (2) I have to get to Doak Campbell Stadium.

FSU vs Miami 2010/Getting into FSU

Ok, at this point I am a senior in high school. I have had a great high school football career, however I was a 6 foot left tackle and FSU never came knocking and I had accepted that. My love for FSU was also at an all time high! I started getting into recruiting and I was a huge fan of John James Fisher, AKA Jimbo. Oh, I should also mention that despite being a lifetime Nole, I do have family members who suffer from the affliction that comes with being a fan of the Miami Hurricanes. I even have an uncle who was a member of the first national championship team for Miami, so he is beyond saving. However, this year he was generous enough to offer me a ticket to the FSU vs Miami game down in Miami. But the only caveat was that I had to sit in the Player Alumni Section. So here I was. A senior in high school repping FSU surrounded, by not only Cane fans but former Cane players. And then the game happened and my Lord it was an ass whooping. The likes of which that has never been seen in that stadium before. That 2010 FSU team straight bullied Miami that night. It was a Jimbo masterclass. Below is the ass kicking tuned to the sounds of the great Travis Porter and Miami’s own DJ Khaled. Shoutout to the YouTube Page Lukasburchett.

I swear this is also the first night I heard the term Doak South. Nole fans took over the Hard Rock (I think it was the Hard Rock at that time). In my section, you could see the disappointment in all the former Cane players faces as they filed out one by one. Leaving the stadium droves of FSU fans were screaming the Warchant, singing the fight song, and chopping it up til their arms almost fell off. It was a great night. We ran them into submission and they quit. So much so that the broadcast didn’t even show the 90 yard touchdown that Chris Thompson had at the end of the game. The Noles torched the Canes for almost 300 yards rushing that night and once again I left knowing that I had to be a Seminole!!!!

And I should have been a Seminole the following year but, sometimes God has different plans for you. I was a damn good student in high school. I took AP classes, honors classes all that good stuff. I ended with a 3.7 GPA and like a 27 or 28 on my ACT, I can’t remember. At the time, these high school stats would get you into FSU. But now, I wouldn’t even be considered with the requirements they have today. Although my ACT score was pretty damn good I had one flaw in my game– Math smh. I wasn’t horrible in math, but I wasn’t the best at it either. It was easily my least favorite subject in high school and the class I spent the most time sleeping in. At the time, you had to have scored a 19 on the math portion of the ACT to meet the minimum requirements to go to FSU. And of course ya boy scored an 18. So despite my excellent reading and writing skills, I was one point away from my dream school. FSU turned me down and I went into a state of depression, or as about as close as you can be to it as a 17 year old senior in high school. I mean, I was stuck. Anyone who knew me, knew that it was my dream to go to FSU. What made it even worse was my girlfriend at the the time got into FSU and I didn’t–so it was all rock bottom for me. Most people would have just chalked up the L and gone about their business going to another school and becoming a fan of said school and cursing FSU for ever denying them. But like I said before, I am Noleblooded and being a Nole was the one thing in life that I had to do at the time. So I pulled myself together went to FAU for a semester (shout out to the Owls and my boy Cody Walters!!) and retook the ACT that following winter break. I ended up scoring a 20 on the math portion and transferring to FSU the following year. The initial rejection and then acceptance at FSU only made my love for the school and the athletics program grow. At the center of that love was always FSU football. Plus, I got to stay together with my girlfriend who would later go on to become my wife!!!

2013 FSU National Championship

Ok, this is the last one I promise. I mean there are many moments that have made me Noleblooded and I highlighted a few key moments in this blog. But here are some honorable mentions: my first time in Doak Campbell, the first time I met Bobby Bowden, being coached at FSU football camp by Odell Haggins and Rick Trickett, graduating with both my Bachelors and Masters degree from FSU, and working in their athletic department. There are a ton more that I can name, but I’ll spare you lol However, that 2013 Season will go down as the greatest time of my life. Everything was perfect that year. I was a junior thriving in my first semester in the Sport Management program at FSU and Jimbo and his team were straight donkeying teams. I called Jameis Winston elite before he even stepped on campus. When I watched him bomb Lamarcus Joyner on that throw to walk on Jared Jackson in the spring game, I knew I was watching something special. I’ll never forget that debut at Pitt watching with my boys as Jameis didn’t let a football touch the ground that night. Or going crazy when he hit the Hail Mary to Kenny Shaw to take back the momentum against Boston College. Or even the curb stomping we gave Maryland 63-0 and it was over in the first quarter. Or James Wilder Jr. bullying his way into the endzone after there was a little on field fight between us and Miami, Or Kelvin Benjamin bullying the UF Secondary. I even loved scoring 80 points in Doak against Idaho. But I really loved the ass whooping we gave Clemson, I can’t forget to mention that. I watch that game once every 6 months just to remember what peak FSU football looks like. And then capping it off by beating the big bad SEC in the Granddaddy of them all in Pasadena. Not to mention my boy Jameis hoisting that Heisman trophy and letting the world know at “Florida State–if we going do it then, we do it big then.” It truly was a special year and the fact that I got to do it while being a student at FSU was magical. It truly felt like it was destiny. I remember I called my Dad the man who started it all for me, crying and telling him I would get one. Like I had anything to do with them winning lol. But that’s what being a fan is. Your teams losses are your losses and your teams W’s are your W’s. Whether they win a national championship, go 2-10 , or go undefeated and get snubbed by a greedy and corrupt system (come on you had to know that was coming) You ride with your guys. That’s what it’s all about. And if you’re an FSU fan, that’s what makes you Noleblooded! Follow along if it’s in your veins to.

Special shout out to David Block a fellow Nole and owner of the Youtube Channel Seminole Moments. I will be using his videos a lot so I wanted to show him some love on this 1st blog.