ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

Who's the best athlete from Florida ever?

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This guy could also be No. 1 on a "nicknames" list.

BEST ATHLETE FROM FLORIDA? TOUGH CALL, BUT WE'LL TAKE DEION

[Ed's note: Not sure what All-World Power Rankings is? Please click here.]

We were fascinated by the notion of "Square Root Day" today and wanted to rank somethin' off it. First thought: take it to a math angle and rank the most relevant statistics in all sports for predicting success. We started doing a little research, got bogged down on this page, and decided to take a different approach altogether. Florida became a state today back in 1845, so we're gonna rank the best athletes ever from there. Ugh, this should be hard. Sunshine = people running around = good athletes developing. And chances are Tim Tebow, already a two-time national champion, doesn't make this bad boy.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (14)	DEION SANDERS	One of the sickest (we mean that in the good version of the word) athletes of the past 20—possibly 50—years. You could argue he was the best DB in NFL history and—AND—he had over 150 steals in MLB. Wow. (He's from Fort Myers.)
	2 (410)	STEVE CARLTON	This dude doesn't get nearly enough credit as a pitcher. He won four Cy Youngs, sure, which is great. You ever get in a bar conversation about pitching? People are always rattling off Nolan Ryan, Walter Johnson, Roger Clemens (yea, we hear that still), Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, etc. Carlton comes in the discussion around Pint No. 3. That's too late. He struck out over 4,100 guys. Dude's from Miami, by the way.
	3 (21)	CHRIS EVERT	18 Grand Slam singles titles. E-G-A-D. She's from Fort Lauderdale.
	4 (127)	EMMITT SMITH	"Pride of Pensacola" won three Super Bowl titles (that's why you play team sports, right? For championships?) and scored over 120 career rushing touchdowns. We just pulled our shirt collar and said "Eeek," because should we be mentioning him after ESPN TV just let him go? Corporate politics. Always out to get cha.
	5 (899)	BOB HAYES	From Jacksonville, he tied a 100-meter record at the '64 Olympics and made three Pro Bowls as a Cowboys WR. That's athleticism.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	18 (144)	WADE BOGGS	From Tampa. Maybe not a great athlete, but undeniably a great hitter. Our friend's dad found out his wife was pregnant (with our friend) while sitting at a bar during spring training time back in the '70s; apparently, thus, the first person besides our friend's parents who knew of his impending birth was Mr. Wade Boggs. That's a cool story, eh? It's quite possibly a lie.
	28 (701)	DORIS HART	From Coral Gables, she won 35 Grand Slam titles and is one of two players to do the "hat trick" thing—singles, doubles, and mixed doubles—at all four majors.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		TIM TEBOW (He could win three championships before he's done at Florida.)
		A-ROD (No, he's very good. But we couldn't resist.)

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