All Time Best Numbers (uPDATED)

[Cincydawg]

What is the best player number at any position?  The number with the most top players all time, or say back to oh 1960?

The only number I can think of that had some top players is 34.

What about at QB?  We do not seem to focus on their numbers as much.

88?

[OrangeAfroMan]

7 and 12 seem to be historic QB numbers.

[FearlessF]

I'd say #15 for QBs

Tebow and Frazier

[FearlessF]

I'll throw out #20

Earl Campbell
Billy Sims
Mike Garrett
Johnny Rogers
Billy Cannon 

and for the Michigan fans
Mike Hart

[Kris61]

College takes a lot of thought because the numbers are all over the place.  A guy wearing number 5 can play any position on defense or be a QB, WR, or RB on offense.  There are also a lot of great players from the past that I have no idea what number they were in college.

In the NFL #12 is an iconic number for QB’s. Brady, Bradshaw, Staubach, Griese, Namath, Rodgers, Stabler, etc.  That’s 16 Super Bowl wins right there.  And that doesn’t include Jim Kelly and his 4 appearances and HOF credentials.

There was a period in the NFL record books where the top 3 all time NFL rushers all wore #32. Jim Brown, Franco Harris, OJ Simpson.

Idk. Tough question. That’s a pretty good list of college players wearing number 20.

[Cincydawg]

Who was the best college players to wear Number One?

[FearlessF]

Sports Illustrated had this opinion............

ANTHONY CARTER, WR, MICHIGAN (1979-82)
The most exciting football player I've ever seen. That's how Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, then an assistant for Bo Schembechler, described the three-time All-America wideout. Carter was a touchdown-making machine for the Wolverines (he had 36 in his career) and finished in the top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting his final three seasons. — Runner-up: Ernie Nevers, FB, Stanford (1923-25)

[OrangeAfroMan]

I've found it hard enough to do a numerical all-star team for one school, much less a national team.  

The biggest problem is when you have, say, a WR and a safety who both wear #2 and were all-time greats.  The RB might be better than the safety was, but if you have several great other WRs to choose from and not another great safety, you'd apply the #2 distinction to the safety, despite him being slightly not as great as the WR.  

[OrangeAfroMan]

I'd start out with an all-star team, then sub out same-number players one by one.  
That Athlon all-time team we had a thread about a few years ago:

QB - Tebow 15
RB - Walker 34
RB - Sanders 21
WR - Moss 88  Rodgers 20
WR - Fitzgerald 1
TE - Jackson 88
OL - Hannah 73
OL - Ogden 79
OL - Pace 75
OL - Munoz 77
OL - Rimington 50
---------------------------------
DE - Green 99
DE - White 94
DT - LR Selmon 93
DT - Suh 93  Emtman 90
LB - Thomas 55
LB - Taylor 98
LB - Bosworth 44
CB - Woodson 2  Newman 4
CB - Sanders 2
S - Lott 42
S - Easley 5

This is imperfect and not my choices, but it's a starting point.  So we have 3 numerical duplicates and have to change out a WR/TE, DT, and CB.  I'll go ahead and keep Selmon and Sanders, so while Suh and Woodson were great, they're off the team and I'll have to pick the next best guy.  As for Moss and Jackson, I'm confident the next best WR is "better" than the next best TE, so I'll keep Jackson and look for the next best WR.

So it's doable, it's just a sonofabitch.  Lots of google image searches, because collegefootballreference doesn't have jersey numbers going back further than the mid 2000s.  

[FearlessF]

QB - Tebow 15  Frazier 15
RB - Walker 34
RB - Sanders 21
WR - Moss 88  Rodgers 20
WR - Fitzgerald 1
TE - Jackson 88
OL - Hannah 73
OL - Ogden 79
OL - Pace 75  Dean Steinkuhler - 71 (gotta have a guard)
OL - Munoz 77
OL - Rimington 50
---------------------------------
DE - Green 99
DE - White 94
DT - LR Selmon 93
DT - Suh 93 Emtman 90

LB - Thomas 55
LB - Taylor 98
LB - Bosworth 44
CB - Woodson 2  Newman 4 (agreed)
CB - Sanders 2
S - Lott 42
S - Easley 5 Roy Williams - 38

[OrangeAfroMan]

You can have a guard, but don't take out the best tackle to do it, lol.
With Suh back in, you now have 2 players with the same number again.    You don't understand the goal, do you?

[FearlessF]

easy fix, replace Lee Roy with Dewey #91

[FearlessF]

You can have a guard, but don't take out the best tackle to do it, lol.

hah, did that for the Buck Nut fans here

[OrangeAfroMan]

easy fix, replace Lee Roy with Dewey #91

Why don't you make your own all-time Big 8 team that you'll love so much?