I was doing a segment on the Morning Wrap sports talk show on the Ticket last week and we were talking about the greatest athletes to come out of Northwest Florida.

The names of Don Sutton, Travis Fryman and Jay Bell were among some baseball greats mentioned. Gridiron greats discussed included Emmitt Smith, Danny Wuerffel and Derrick Brooks.

Crestview’s Tom Hammonds was my pick for the best basketball player to come out of the area. Boxer Roy Jones is really the only choice among the men that have dared to step into the squared circle. And, I deemed Pensacola’s Jerry Pate as my choice for best golfer based on his 1976 U.S. Open title.

When we started talking about track and field athletes the only names mentioned were Pensacola’s Justin Gatlin and Baker’s Houston McTear.