Joakim Noah, the son of International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee, Yannick Noah, was a two-time NCAA Champion with the Florida Gators and a Final Four MVP.  Naturally, this is a pedigree of a Lottery Pick, which he would be in 2007, when the Chicago Bulls drafted him Ninth Overall.

The 6’ 11” Center would not become a potent scorer, only having five years in the NBA where he had at least 10 Points per Game, but he developed into one of the most complete defensive players in Basketball.  Noah had four seasons of 10-plus Rebounds per Game, and six straight with at least 1.4 Blocks per Game.  An All-Star for Chicago in 2013 and 2014, and was a First Team All-Defensive Selection in both of those years.  Noah earned the prestigious Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2014, and he did have the league’s highest Defensive Rating.

Noah would also play for New York, Memphis and the Los Angeles Clippers. 

When you think of the state of Florida and the game of football, Fred Taylor is one of those named that should come up in the conversation.  He is from the state, he played his college ball at the University of Florida (where he helped them with the National Championship), and he would play professionally for the Jacksonville Jaguars for the first 11 years of his career.

Lomas Brown played his first eleven seasons with the Detroit Lions, where his first six of seven Pro Bowls would take place.  The Left Tackle would appear in seven straight Pro Bowls and would start in 251 of his 263 career games.

There was a time when a case could be made that Wilber Marshall was the best Linebacker in football.  In 1985, he was a member of the most dominating team of the decade, the Super Bowl XX Champion, Chicago Bears.  The year after, he was a First Team All-Pro, led the league in Approximate Value (23), and was a Pro Bowler for the first time.  Marshall was overshadowed by some of his teammates (William Perry & Richard Dent), but those in the know saw Marshall as one of the most versatile outside linebackers in the NFL.

Rick Casares was drafted in the 2^nd Round by George Halas' Chicago Bears in 1954, and after he served a year in the military, he would become one of the elite Fullbacks of the National Football League.  Casares was a straight-forward rusher who was finished in the top ten in Rushing Yards in his first six seasons (1955-60), the first five of which would garner him a Pro Bowl Selection.  Casares' best season by far was in 1956, where he led the league in Rushing Yards (1,126) and Rushing Touchdowns (12) and took the team to the NFL Championship Game, though they would be destroyed by the New York Giants in the game.