Making A Number For Themselves

[bhambruiser]

Making a Number For Themselves

[VitaminD]

Interesting piece. Of course, the population discussed in the article skews a little more egocentric than most.

I was in Montreal this past weekend, and the local paper there had a great piece on why some of the Habs have the numbers they do (especially #71, #73, #79). Can't find the link, but it's probably around somewhere.

[leopard88]

My recollection is that the NFL began slotting numbers sometime around 1950, give or take a few years (though they may have tightened things up a bit in 1973 -- thus no more Gene Washingtons, Lance Alworths and Jim Ottos). The original round was what caused Otto Graham to change from 60 to 14 during the middle of his career (apparently no grandfather clause).

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I had been wondering for a long time why the sudden flood of teen numbers this year. Personally? It was cool when Keyshawn was in New York. Then again, I'm 24, so I don't know all of the old-timers. The ubiquity of teen-numbered wideouts makes the NFL look more like college. That and bright orange jerseys serve only to cheapen the league.

[FirearmofMutiny]

My favorite numbering trend: the Chicago Cheetahs, a Roller Hockey International team, all wore numbers above 70, which is the observed speed (in mph) of a cheetah.

[leopard88]

I had been wondering for a long time why the sudden flood of teen numbers this year.  Personally?  It was cool when Keyshawn was in New York.  Then again, I'm 24, so I don't know all of the old-timers.  The ubiquity of teen-numbered wideouts makes the NFL look more like college.  That and bright orange jerseys serve only to cheapen the league.

For the record, I don't remember any of the "old-timers" that I named either. I'm only 38, so Otto Graham was WAY before my time (and Alworth retired well before I reached double digits). I have just absorbed too much league history over the years.

[TruColor]

I'm old enough to remember John Hadl - the former QB of the Chargers - wearing #21...

[ASTROS75]

If I remember correctly , linebacker Brad Van Pelt of the Giants wore # 10 and was the last player allowed to break the number code because he was grandfathered in in the early 70's..Very few players challenged the assigning of numbers....Kosar wanted to wear 20 with the Browns , but was told no....

[leopard88]

I'm old enough to remember John Hadl - the former QB of the Chargers - wearing #21...

I remember him too . . . and I do remember Gene Washington. The problem with Gene Washington was that the 49ers were awful during the 70s, so you didn't see much of them in Baltimore. That was way back in the days before we had such a fancy thing as cable TV and 24-hours sports channels. Catching the highlights meant the local news and/or 3 minutes of Howard Cosell at halftime of the Monday Night Football game ("RIGHT THERE!! He could . . . go . . . all . . . the . . . way!!" Yes, you whippersnappers, that was Howard's line first).

[CS85]

Not a huge fan of the wr's in the teens, but whatever. I hate recievers that want to wear #1 or 11, it just looks stupid.

[-kj]

My favorite numbering trend: the Chicago Cheetahs, a Roller Hockey International team, all wore numbers above 75, which is the observed speed (in mph) of a cheetah.

Was that why they all had those ridiculous numbers?! I never knew that.

Al Secord wore 88, if I remember correctly.

[rmered]

Jeff Feagles SOLD his numbers to his team mates?

He should be ashamed of himself.

He either wants the number, or he doesn't.

If he doesn't, he should have given it to them.

Of course, then he'd have to pay for his own "outdoor kitchen in his vacation home in Phoenix".

It's not like he makes much money.

[perfesser]

Bosworth sued the league to wear 44 with the Seahawks, and he got it for a while. I liked defensive linemen and linebackers wearing numbers in the 80s, like Alan Page or Ted Hendricks.

[PackerBadger]

The unofficial (and not always followed) numbering system used to be:

1-19: Quarterbacks and (when they became specialists) kickers

20-29: Halfbacks

30-39: Fullbacks

40-49: Probably defensive backs

50-59: Centers and linebackers

60-69: Guards

70-79: Tackles

80-89: Ends (see Page, Alan)

Some years ago, the NCAA simply said that 50-79 cannot be eligible receivers. There was a mammoth freshman offensive lineman at Wisconsin, Aaron Gibson (later a first-round draft bust with, I believe, the Lions) who wore #81 his freshman year when they wanted to bring in an extra "tight end." If Barry Alvarez had had more offensive imagination than a turnip, he would have designed a pass play to Gibson.

[FirearmofMutiny]

My favorite numbering trend: the Chicago Cheetahs, a Roller Hockey International team, all wore numbers above 75, which is the observed speed (in mph) of a cheetah.

Was that why they all had those ridiculous numbers?! I never knew that.

Al Secord wore 88, if I remember correctly.

Reading a little more into it, 70 was the bottom jersey number for the Cheetahs. And this was started by Cheetahs owner George Mikan.

[Draft Dodger]

Jeff Feagles SOLD his numbers to his team mates?

He should be ashamed of himself.

He either wants the number, or he doesn't.

If he doesn't, he should have given it to them.

Of course, then he'd have to pay for his own "outdoor kitchen in his vacation home in Phoenix".

It's not like he makes much money.

meh

it's not like he's the first - that's been going on for a while in football and baseball.

I like that the agent got involved in the deal...probably a result of the Clinton Portis lawsuit.

[Discrim]

The unofficial (and not always followed) numbering system used to be:

1-19: Quarterbacks and (when they became specialists) kickers

20-29: Halfbacks

30-39: Fullbacks

40-49: Probably defensive backs

50-59: Centers and linebackers

60-69: Guards

70-79: Tackles

80-89: Ends (see Page, Alan)

Some years ago, the NCAA simply said that 50-79 cannot be eligible receivers. There was a mammoth freshman offensive lineman at Wisconsin, Aaron Gibson (later a first-round draft bust with, I believe, the Lions) who wore #81 his freshman year when they wanted to bring in an extra "tight end." If Barry Alvarez had had more offensive imagination than a turnip, he would have designed a pass play to Gibson.

the official rule, IIRC:

NCAA: defensive players can theoretically wear any number, as all defensive players can legally catch a pass regardless of number. so theoretically, Jimmy Leonhard coulda worn 98 or something

offensive players, you said it: 50 to 79 are reserved for offensive linemen. other than that, offensive players can more or less wear whatever number. theoretically again, Brian Calhoun could wear 92. heck, I recall Boston College had a tight end a few years back who wore 96.

and obviously, kickers and punters wear pretty much whatever number they want, cus they arent' gonna go out for a pass anytime soon. which accounts for the multitude of college kickers wearing 90s numbers...only numbers they don't let you wear are 0 and 00

CFL: apparently the CFL's only number rule is you can't exceed two digits, and you can't have duplicate numbers. one of the Blue Bombers wears 00 if I recall right, and I also know of a former Saskatchewan Roughrider guard who donned 44.

Arena football: I should look it up, but I recall in Steve Papin's brief stint with the Dragons he wore a single 0 cus 1 (the number he wore in San Jose) was taken...god I hated taht font (basically the 1s looked like thin 7s, the 0s looked like 1s...a disaster). I also remember when the Houston Thunderbears existed, their quarterback one year was Robert Hall, who wore 89 (as he was usually a receiver)

and of course, the NFL rule:

1-19: QBs and kickers/punters

10-19: wideouts

20-49: running backs and defensive backs...as you've probably noticed, RBs and corners usually wear numbers in the 20-39 range, and fullbacks and safeties usually take 30s and 40s numbers, though there are exceptions.

40-49: I've seen cases where apparently teams have run out of the designated linebacker or tight end numbers, so said players have dipped into the 40s instead.

50-79: all linemen, though offensively non-centers wearing 50s are rare. centers in 60s and 70s, though, is somewhat common (Kevin Mawae, anyone?).

50-59: linebackers' usual range

80-89: wide receivers and tight ends' usual range...this was pure stupidity. a team usually has between 5-6 receivers and 2-3 tight ends. 80 thorugh 89 is ten numbers. this always seemed stupid to me

90-99: defensive linemen and linebackers' range. back before they put 90s in the DL/LB ranges, 90s numbers were, as Lost's Jin so eloquently put it, OTHERS! OTHERS! those oddball players and such.

exceptions: Eric Metcalf, who wore 21 for much of his career...orignally a running back, he was primarily a return man/wideout

Karl Mecklenburg, the old Broncos lineman who apparently switched to linebacker sometime in his career. he wore 77 as a lineman and apparently decided to keep it after his switch.

[rmered]

Jeff Feagles SOLD his numbers to his team mates?

He should be ashamed of himself.

He either wants the number, or he doesn't.

If he doesn't, he should have given it to them.

Of course, then he'd have to pay for his own "outdoor kitchen in his vacation home in Phoenix".

It's not like he makes much money.

meh

it's not like he's the first - that's been going on for a while in football and baseball.

I like that the agent got involved in the deal...probably a result of the Clinton Portis lawsuit.

Oh well, that makes it OK, if everyone's doing it.

Oh, bugger, I forgot the Sarcasm Italics

[jWilson4mvp]

Personally, I think the 11 on WR's looks awesome.

[nwtrailtrekker]

#11 has always been my favorite number in sports and stuff.