NFL by the Numbers (updated)

To celebrate the NFL’s 100th Anniversary, USA Today published a list of the greatest players by jersey number. There were notable omissions, which I point out below. I compiled a similar list six years ago, which is linked below.

00. Jim Otto, Ken Burrough

0. No single zero? George Plimpton.

1. Warren Moon, Cam Newton. What about HOFers Curly Lambeau and Fritz Pollard?

2. Matt Ryan, Charlie Trippi

3. Bronko Nagurski, Jan Stenerud

4. Brett Favre, Tuffy Leemans

5. Paul Hornung, George McAfee, Donovan McNabb

6. Thomas Morestead, Jay Cutler, Johnny Hekker. No Kevin Butler?

7. John Elway, Mel Hein, Bob Waterfield

8. Steve Young, Troy Aikman, Larry Wilson. No Ray Guy?

9. Drew Brees, Sonny Jurgenson

10. Fran Tarkenton, Eli Manning

11. Larry Fitzgerald, Julio Jones, Norm Van Brocklin. Missing: Joe Guyon HOF

12. Tom Brady, Bradshaw, Namath Rodgers, Staubach. No Griese?

13. Dan Marino, Kurt Warner. No Jake Scott?

14. Don Hutson, Otto Graham, Dan Fouts. No YA Tittle?

15. Bart Starr, Steve Van Buren

16. Joe Montana, Len Dawson, Frank Gifford

17. Phillip Rivers, Don Meredith, Harold Carmichael

18. Payton Manning, Charlie Joiner. No Emmitt Thomas?

19. Johnny Unitas, Lance Alworth

20. Barry Sanders, Lem Barney. No Cliff Battles?

21. Deion Sanders, LaDanian Tomlinson

22. Emmitt Smith, Mike Haynes, Bobby Layne

23. Devin Hester, Troy Vincent, Adrian Foster

24. Darrelle Revis, Champ Bailey, Ty Law. What about Willie Brown, Willie Wood, and Lenny Moore?

25. Fred Biltnekoff, Richard Sherman. No Tommy McDonald?

26. Rod Woodson, Herb Adderley

27. Ken Houston, Steve Atwater, Eddie George

28. Marshall Faulk, Darrell Green, Adrian Peterson, Curtis Martin. No Yale Lary?

29. Eric Dickerson, Earl Thomas. No Harold Jackson?

30. Terrell Davis, Bill Willis, Clark Hinkle

31. Jim Taylor, Donnie Shell

32. Jim Brown, M Allen F Harris OJ Simpson.

33. Sammy Baugh, T Dorsett R Craig. No Ollie Matson?

34. Walter Payton E Campbell Thurman Thomas. No Herschel? HW gained more NFL yards than EW or TT. And no Cornell Green and Joe Perry?

35. Aeneas Williams, John Henry Johnson, Pete Philos

36. Jerome Bettis, LeRoy Butler

37. Doak Walker, Jimmy Johnson, Lester Hayes

38. Arnie Herber, George Rogers

39. Larry Csonka, Hugh McElhenny

40. Gale Sayers, Pat Tillman, Elroy Hirsch. Tillman was a great American and a great player, but not sure he belongs on this list. His would be a cool jersey to have.

41. Matt Snell, Alvin Kamara, Eugene Robinson. No Tom Matte?

42. Ronnie Lott, Sid Luckman, Charley Taylor, P Warfield

43. Troy Polamalu, Cliff Harris. No Dan Perkins?

44. John Riggins, Leroy Kelly, Dick LeBeau. No Floyd Little?

45. Emlen Tunnell, Kenny Easley

46. Todd Christensen, Tim McDonald

47. Mel Blount, John Lynch

48. Daryl Johnson, Stephen Davis. No Les Richter?

49. Bobby Mitchel, Dennis Smith

50. Mike Singletary, Alex Wojciechowicz

51. Dick Butkus, Sam Mills. No Jim Ringo?

52. Ray Lewis, Mike Webster, Patrick Willis

53. Harry Carson, Mick Tinglehoff, Randy Gradishar

54. Randy White, Brain Urlacher. No Chuck Howley?

55. Junior Seau, Derrick Brooks

56. Lawrence Taylor, Chris Doleman

57. Dwight Stephenson, Rickey Jackson. No Isaiah Robertson?

58. Jack Lambert, Derrick Thomas

59. Jack Ham, Luke Kuechly

60. Chuck Bednarik, Tommy Nobis. No Otto Graham?

61. Bill George, Curley Culp

62. Jim Langer, Charley Trippi.

63. Willie Lanier, Gene Upshaw, Lee Roy Selmon

64. Jerry Kramer, Randall McDaniel

65. Gary Zimmerman, Elvin Bethea. No Tom Mack?

66. Ray Nitschke, Clyde Bulldog Turner. No Larry Little?

67. Bob Kuechenberg, Kent Hull. Art Still?

68. Will Shields, Russ Grimm, Kevin Mawae. LC Greenwood? Joe Delamielleure?

69. Jared Allen, Jon Runyan, Tim Kumrie

70. Sam Huff, Ernie Stautner, Art Donovan. Jim Marshall?

71. Walter Jones, George Connor. Alex Karras?

72. Dan Dierdorf, Ed Too Tall Jones

73. John Hannah, Larry Allen, Joe Thomas. Leo Nomellini?

74. Bob Lilly, Merlin Olsen, Bruce Matthews

75. J Greene, D Jones, J Ogden, Howie Long, F Gregg

76. Marion Motley, Orlando Pace. Lou Groza?

77. Red Grange, Willie Roaf. Jim Parker?

78. Anthony Munoz, Bruce Smith, Bobby Bell, Art Shell. Curly Culp?

79. Rosey Brown, Bob St. Clair

80. Jerry Rice, S Largent, K Winslow. James Lofton? Tom Fears?

81. Night Train Lane, Doug Atkins, Torry Holt. Carl Eller? Art Monk? Andy Robustelli?

82. Raymond Berry, Ozzie Newsome.

83. Ted Hendricks, Andre Reed. John Jefferson?

84. Randy Moss, Antonio Brown, Shannon and Sterling Sharpe

85. Jack Youngblood, N Buoniconti, Antonio Gates, C Johnson. HOFer Del Shofner?

86. Buck Buchanon, Hines Ward.

87. Rob Gronkowski, Willie Davis. Claude Humphrey?

88. Alan Page, T Gonzalez, J Mackey, L Swann

89. Mike Ditka, Gino Marchetti. Otis Taylor?

90. Julius Peppers, Neil Smith

91. Kevin Greene, Leslie O’Neal, Cameron Wake

92. Reggie White, Michael Strahan

93. John Randle, Dwight Freeney

94. Charles Haley, DeMarcus Ware. Dana Stubblefield?

95. Richard Dent, Greg Lloyd. Sam Adams?

96. Cortez Kennedy, Clyde Simmons

97. Bryant Young, C Bennett, S Rice, La’Roi Glover

98. Robert Mathis, Jessie Armstead

99. JJ Watt, Warren Sapp, Jason Taylor. Gastneau? Hampton?

https://sacrificefly.blogspot.com/2013/08/nfl-by-numbers.html