Yes, of course, Lawrence Taylor is the quintessential No. 56. But who’s the quintessential No. 55: Junior Seau or Derrick Brooks? And how about No. 58: Jack Lambert or Derrick Thomas?
Despite some seemingly impossible choices along the way, we’ve combed through the roughly 30,000 players who have suited up for an NFL game over the past 105 years to decide who wore each jersey number best, from No. 0 (or 00) through No. 99.
We looked at the players’ cumulative statistics, awards (MVP, Offensive/Defensive Player of the Year, etc.) and honors such as All-Pro and Pro Bowl selections. Super Bowl championships mattered as well, as did the impact players had on their era. Historical importance was very significant, which is why the list is littered with members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
That said, we’ve already presented Nos. 0-24 and Nos. 25-49. So here’s our look at the greatest players in NFL history to wear Nos. 50-74. Note that since many great players switched numbers during their careers, the list is based on the number each player is best known for wearing.
No. 50: Mike Singletary
He was the leader of the 1985 Bears defense, which is universally considered one of the greatest of all time. Despite standing just 5-foot-11, this powerful middle linebacker was one of the league’s biggest players, making nearly 1,500 tackles in his 12-year career. Singletary was a 10-time Pro Bowler, a nine-time All-Pro and, in both 1985 and 1988, he was the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Honorable Mentions: Justin Houston, Alex Wojciechowicz
No. 51: Dick Butkus
Butkus was, perhaps, the most feared player in the NFL in the 1960s and early 1970s. The linebacker for some bad Bears teams went to the Pro Bowl in each of his first eight seasons in the league, was an All-Pro six times, and even received MVP votes in three seasons. The award for the best linebacker in college football is now named after him. Sam Mills, the 5-foot-9 Saints and Panthers linebacker, deserves some consideration here, but Butkus is an NFL legend.
Honorable Mentions: Sam Mills, Jim Ringo
No. 52: Ray Lewis
Few defensive players had more of an impact on the NFL than this Ravens linebacker did in his 17 seasons. Lewis went to 12 Pro Bowls and was a 10-time All-Pro. He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1996, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and he was a Super Bowl MVP. His 2,059 career tackles are still an NFL record, proving he might have been the best sideline-to-sideline linebacker ever. He’s such a Baltimore legend that they built a statue of him outside the Ravens’ stadium.
Honorable Mentions: Mike Webster, Patrick Willis
No. 53: Harry Carson
A leader of the great Giants defenses of the early-to-mid 1980s, Carson might not have needed 30 years to make the Hall of Fame if he hadn’t played in the shadow of Lawrence Taylor. Both Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick have said they consider Carson, a nine-time Pro Bowler, to be one of the best all-around linebackers in NFL history. He was one of the best run-stuffing middle linebackers ever, too.
Honorable Mentions: Mick Tingelhoff, Randy Gradishar
No. 54: Randy White
This was a close call between White and longtime Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. But once White was shifted from linebacker/end to defensive tackle in his third season with the Cowboys, he went on an incomparable run — nine straight Pro Bowls and eight All-Pro nods. He also finished his career with 111 sacks and missed just one game in his 14 seasons from 1975-88. Urlacher, an eight-time Pro Bowler and one of the greatest defensive players in Chicago’s storied history, is more than worthy, too.
Honorable Mentions: Brian Urlacher, Zach Thomas
No. 55: Junior Seau
No. 55 is one of the few numbers on the list that probably should be shared, because there’s not a lot of space between this all-time Chargers great and Bucs legend Derrick Brooks. The two linebackers rank among the greatest defenders of their era. Seau shot out of a rocket with 12 Pro Bowls and nine All-Pro nods in the first 13 years of his 20-year career from 1990-2009. He finished with 1,847 tackles and 56½ sacks. That gets him the nod here over Brooks, who had 11 Pro Bowls, nine All-Pros, a Defensive Player of the Year award and 1,300 tackles.
Honorable Mentions: Derrick Brooks, Chris Hanburger
No. 56: Lawrence Taylor
If the NFL were going to retire any number league-wide, this probably should be it. Taylor redefined the linebacker position and was as dominant a defensive player as there ever was. He was the NFL’s Rookie of the Year in 1981, the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year three times, including in his first two seasons, a 10-time Pro Bowler, a 10-time All-Pro and the NFL’s MVP in 1986. He had 132½ career sacks, 142 if you include the 9½ he had as a rookie before sacks were an official statistic. He surely gave more nightmares to opposing quarterbacks and offensive coordinators than any other player in NFL history, too.
Honorable Mentions: Chris Doleman, Andre Tippett
No. 57: Rickey Jackson
A key part of the Saints’ transition from NFL doormats to actual contenders, this versatile linebacker amassed 1,173 tackles and 40 forced fumbles in 17 seasons, including 15 spent in New Orleans. A six-time Pro Bowler and five-time All-Pro, Jackson was also an elite pass rusher with 136 career sacks, including six seasons with 10 or more. He played his final two seasons in San Francisco, which let him cap his career with a Super Bowl championship in 1995.
Honorable Mentions: Dwight Stephenson, Tom Jackson
No. 58: Jack Lambert
Here’s another number where there could be a timeshare, this time between this great Steelers linebacker and Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas. Lambert gets the nod because he was the centerpiece of the four-time Super Bowl champion “Steel Curtain” defense in Pittsburgh. He was a seven-time All-Pro, was the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1976 and received votes in five other years. He played 11 seasons and recorded 1,479 tackles, 28 interceptions and 23½ sacks. Thomas, with 126½ sacks in 11 seasons and five All-Pro nods, was right on Lambert’s heels.
Honorable Mentions: Derrick Thomas, Von Miller
No. 59: Jack Ham
The only Hall of Famer to wear this number, Ham was the brains of Pittsburgh’s “Steel Curtain” defense. The smart, speedy linebacker was a six-time All-Pro even though he was sometimes overshadowed by bigger stars on his four-time Super Bowl championship team. Ham finished his career with 32 interceptions and 25½ sacks in 12 NFL seasons.
Honorable Mentions: London Fletcher, Luke Kuechly
No. 60: Chuck Bednarik
Bednarik was a dominating two-way player for most of his 14-year NFL career, which was all played in Philadelphia. He was a powerful center on offense, but he was known mostly for being a devastating hitter and tackler as a linebacker. He was a nine-time All-Pro who was famous for his toughness and willingness to tackle — or just hit — anybody. And he did it in big spots, helping the Eagles win the 1960 NFL championship with a game-saving tackle in the final seconds after playing the entire game on both sides of the ball.
Honorable Mentions: Larry Grantham, D’Brickashaw Ferguson
No. 61: Bill George
He’s believed to be the first middle linebacker to bump off the standard, five-man defensive line and regularly drop into the secondary, literally redefining the position. With the Bears in the 1950s and early ’60s, George could do it all — pass rush, coverage, side-to-side tackling. And he was a star at it, too, being named an All-Pro seven straight times and eight times overall in his 15 NFL seasons. He ended up with 18 career interceptions. His place in history moves him a notch past long-time Chiefs/Oilers defensive tackle Curley Culp, who had 68½ sacks from the interior of the line.
Honorable Mentions: Curley Culp, Nate Newton
Ownership of this number came down to an epic battle between two elite centers, including this Philadelphia icon and longtime Dolphins center Jim Langer. Both won two Super Bowls and, in a few years, both will be Hall of Famers. And while it’s hard to top Langer’s seven-year run during which he didn’t miss a game and was a five-time All-Pro, Kelce might have done it with his 13 years in the middle of one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. He didn’t miss a game in his final nine seasons and was a six-time All-Pro. He’s also the muscle behind the Eagles’ famed “tush push” — arguably the greatest short-yardage play of all time.
Honorable Mentions: Jim Langer, Guy McIntyre
No. 63: Gene Upshaw
Several Hall of Fame offensive linemen wore this number, including Mike Munchak, Dermontti Dawson and Dick Stanfel, but none did it better than Gene Upshaw. He once played 207 straight games at guard for the Raiders. He’s the only player to start for championship teams in the AFL and NFL, and the only player to reach the Super Bowl with the same team in three different decades (1960s, ‘70s, ’80s). He was an eight-time All-Pro and, after his career, he went on to become the leader of the NFL players’ union.
Honorable Mentions: Mike Munchak, Dermontti Dawson
No. 64: Randall McDaniel
One of the best and most durable guards ever to play, this Vikings great once played in 202 consecutive games. He was a dominant pass blocker on one of the best offensive lines in the game in the mid-1990s. McDaniel was selected to 12 straight Pro Bowls and was named an All-Pro in nine straight seasons during his 14-year career. Green Bay’s Jerry Kramer deserves a mention for being one of the most dominant guards of the 1960s, but it’s hard for anyone to match what McDaniel did.
Honorable Mentions: Jerry Kramer, Joe DeLamielleure
No. 65: Gary Zimmerman
A two-time All-Pro left tackle in Minnesota and a three-time All-Pro left tackle in Denver, Zimmerman was the anchor of some of the best lines in the league during his 12-year career from 1986-97. He finished his career with a Super Bowl championship, too, and once played in 169 consecutive games. He was nose-for-nose with Tom Mack, an elite guard with the Rams in the 1960s and ‘70s, who had his own Iron Man streak, playing in all 184 games in his 13-year career.
Honorable Mentions: Tom Mack, Elvin Bethea
No. 66: Ray Nitschke
A tough call goes to the legendary Packers linebacker who was the leader of their dynasty defense of the 1960s. A quick, powerful tackler and their unquestioned leader, Nitschke was an All-NFL selection seven times and the first Packers defensive player to make the Hall of Fame. Two of the most dominant guards in NFL history made this a close race, though. Pittsburgh’s Alan Faneca made eight straight All-Pro teams in the 2000s and Miami’s Larry Little made seven of his eight All-Pro teams in the 1970s.
Honorable Mentions: Alan Faneca, Larry Little
No. 67: Bob Kuechenberg
A powerful and often-overlooked guard on the great Dolphins offensive lines of the 1970s, Kuechenberg has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame an agonizing eight times. Though he has fallen short there, he’s in Miami’s Ring of Honor as a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. If he ever gets into the Hall, he’ll be the first member of Canton to primarily wear this number.
Honorable Mentions: Kent Hull, Reggie McKenzie
No. 68: Will Shields
Four Hall of Fame linemen wore this number, including Russ Grimm, Kevin Mawae and Joe DeLamielleure, but none was quite as dominant as this longtime Chiefs right guard. Shields went to an NFL-record 12 straight Pro Bowls from 1995-2006 and was named an All-Pro six times. Perhaps most impressively, he didn’t miss a single game in his 224-game career, and the only one he didn’t start was his first.
Honorable Mentions: Kevin Mawae, Russ Grimm
No. 69: Jared Allen
In August, Allen will become the first player to wear this number to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame. This fierce defensive end earned that honor with 136 career sacks and an NFL-record four safeties during his 12-year career, spent mostly in Minnesota. He was a four-time All-Pro and came within a half-sack of the NFL’s single-season record when he had 22 in 2011.
Honorable Mentions: Mark Schlereth, Jon Runyan
No. 70: Sam Huff
He was one of the NFL’s first true cross-over celebrities when he starred for the Giants in the mid-1950s and became a New York media sensation. Huff was a Pro Bowler and All-Pro in four of his first five seasons as he quickly became one of the toughest, most disruptive middle linebackers in the game. He had his best seasons in New York, though he did add a Pro Bowl trip as he finished out his 13-year career in Washington. Cowboys right tackle Rayfield Wright and Colts defensive tackle Art Donovan deserve mention as well, but Huff was one of the league’s brightest stars.
Honorable Mentions: Rayfield Wright, Art Donovan
No. 71: Alex Karras
Though he played for some truly awful Lions teams in the 1960s and his career was interrupted by a year-long suspension for betting on NFL games, Karras was still one of the dominant defensive players of his era. From his defensive tackle spot, he unofficially had 100 career sacks in 12 seasons and was named an All-Pro eight times. He barely edges out longtime Seahawks left tackle Walter Jones, who dominated for a dozen years and went to the Pro Bowl nine times.
Honorable Mentions: Walter Jones, Tony Boselli
No. 72: Dan Dierdorf
Dierdorf may have toiled in relative obscurity playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was still a dominant presence on some strong offensive lines. He played all five line positions for the Cards, though he settled in as their longtime right tackle during his 13 NFL seasons from 1971-83. He was an All-Pro and Pro Bowler six times. He’s also the only Hall of Famer to predominantly wear No. 72, which gets him the nod over Ed “Too Tall” Jones, who had 106 career sacks playing defensive end for the Cowboys.
Honorable Mentions: Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Lincoln Kennedy
No. 73: John Hannah
The longtime Patriot is considered by many to be the greatest guard in NFL history, which is why he gets this spot over fellow Hall of Fame linemen Joe Thomas and Larry Allen. Hannah was a 10-time Pro Bowler and 10-time All-Pro in his 13 NFL seasons. He won the NFLPA’s Offensive Lineman of the Year award for four years straight, from 1978-81. And he missed only five games due to injury during his career.
Honorable Mentions: Larry Allen, Joe Thomas
No. 74 Merlin Olsen
Nine Hall of Famers wore No. 74, making this one of the most impossible choices. But the Rams defensive tackle, and future Hollywood star, stands out among the greats. He went to the Pro Bowl in each of his first 14 NFL seasons and was an All-Pro nine times. He also didn’t miss a single game in his 15-year career, starting all 208 from 1962-76. Still, very strong cases could be made for Cowboys defensive tackle Bob Lilly, an eight-time All-Pro with 95½ career sacks, and Oilers lineman Bruce Matthews, who was an All-Pro 10 times in his 19-year career.
Honorable Mentions: Bob Lilly, Bruce Matthews
Our four-part series concludes on Thursday, July 31, with the greatest players in NFL history to wear Nos. 75-99.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
مُستَحسَن
Get more from the National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
