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A NUMBERS GAME
These are the digits that define the franchise.
by Josh Ellis
A right turn from Jackson Avenue onto Fraternity Row on the Ole Miss campus will reveal something curious to out-of-towners. The speed limit is 18 mph. Because 15 was too slow, and 20 was too fast, they decided.
And besides, 18 has special significance in Oxford, Miss. It was Archie Manning's number.
Numbers define sports, from batting averages to rushing yards to 72-hole scores. For a franchise's fan base, the digits on a jersey are transcendent, far more meaningful than as identifiers of a player in the box score. It was with great hope, for instance, that the New York Yankees gave Derek Jeter jersey No. 2 - since the other Nos. 1-5 had all been retired and enshrined in Monument Park.
The Cowboys are no different, as evidenced by Jerry Jones bestowing the No. 88 on Dez Bryant before the wide receiver had time to ask for something else. Some numbers throughout team history just seem to carry more weight than others. With that in mind, here are the Top 12 most significant jersey numbers in Dallas Cowboys history.
Why a Top 12 instead of a Top 10? Well, you know the answer ...
8
The Cowboys do not officially retire jerseys, though any future player will find it awfully hard to get his hands on this, the symbol for infinity. The No. 8 will infinitely be linked in Cowboys annals to Troy Aikman, of course, the three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. Only Buzz Sawyer, a punter for the team in 1987, had worn the jersey previously. Funny story: when kicker Richie Cunningham came to the Cowboys in 1997, he originally asked for his college number - 8. Umm, that's taken, he was told.
12
Like Aikman, Roger Staubach earned the all-time rights to his own jersey with multiple Super Bowl wins. In 11 seasons inside the Cowboys' No. 12, Staubach became the NFL's passing champion and led the team to four title appearances, netting two rings. His number had been previously worn by a punter as well, Ron Widby, along with backup quarterback John Roach. Since his retirement after the 1979 season, though, no player has donned the 12.
17
Quarterbacks get all the attention, and Don Meredith was no exception, the first in a series of Cowboys' passers to experience some form of celebrity, wanted or unwanted. The team never stopped assigning the jersey, but it's always been Meredith's. Jason Garrett and Quincy Carter are the only quarterbacks to wear it since then, and neither duplicated Meredith's impact, though Carter acknowledged on multiple occasions the honor it was to walk in Dandy Don's shoes.
19
Lance Rentzel was the Cowboys' leading receiver while wearing No. 19 from 1967-70, but in '71 the Cowboys gave the jersey to another Lance - the greatest receiver of the '60s, Lance Alworth. He was an aging former AFL star but also a crucial piece of the Cowboys' first Super Bowl championship team in 1971. At a time when receivers were only allowed numbers 80-89, Keyshawn Johnson fell into the No. 19 because all the eighties were taken when he arrived with the Jets, then was grandfathered into keeping it. Johnson remained No. 19 throughout his career, including with the Cowboys. And, after wearing No. 14 his rookie year, Miles Austin took the number in 2007.
21
Unlike the other numbers on this list, 21 isn't part of a legacy, and there isn't one transformative figure who owns it forever. No, the 21 is here because of how important it was to the guy who made it most famous, Deion Sanders. Veteran free agents will often purchase a jersey number off younger players when they arrive, but Sanders' generosity when he signed midseason in 1995 might not ever be topped. For the rights to his beloved 21, Sanders bought rookie cornerback Alundis Brice a brand new Mercedes Benz.
22
At Boston Celtics games you'll see nearly two dozen different jerseys hanging from the rafters, but only one number dangled from Texas Stadium's sunroof, the blue 22 the Cowboys unfurled after Emmitt Smith became the all-time leading rusher. Smith's legacy almost makes Bob Hayes' Hall of Fame achievements an afterthought, but he also changed the game while sporting the double-deuces. If Hayes' accomplishments didn't disqualify the 22 from future use, Smith's certainly have.
54
First came linebacker Chuck Howley in 1961-73, a Ring of Honor stalwart. Then Randy White took over the 54 two years later. A Hall of Famer at defensive tackle, White started his career as a linebacker. Since center Mike Connelly in the inaugural season, every inhabitant of the 54 has been a linebacker. With Bobby Carpenter now gone, the latest to wear No. 54, might second-rounder Sean Lee take the reverse of his college number, 45?
74
In 50 years of Cowboys football, this is the only number to be worn in a regular season game by just one player, Bob Lilly, Mr. Cowboy, the team's very first rookie draft pick. Ring of Honor, Hall of Fame, check, check. Because of the number of linemen carried on the preseason roster the team does hand out the 74 for exhibition games. Once cuts are made, though, the player is reassigned a new jersey to wear.
81
No, Terrell Owens was far from the first Cowboy to sport this number, though like Sanders with the 21, preserving his mystique was highly important to Owens. When he signed with the Buffalo Bills last year, they simply moved young wide receiver James Hardy to No. 84, no need to bother asking. The 81 will be identified with T.O. for a while in Dallas, but it's actually the most-worn number in team history, with 22 occupants. However, Owens is the only Cowboys 81 to ever make the Pro Bowl.
84
Patrick Crayton and Joey Galloway are the most recent tenants, but 84 is most identifiable with the tight ends who have worn the digits for the Cowboys. Players such as steady, longtime blocker/pass catcher Pettis Norman to Doug Cosbie and later Jay Novacek. During the first five years of his career, spent with the Cardinals, Novacek wore No. 85, but it was taken when he got to Dallas by wide receiver Dennis McKinnon.
88
Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin, Dez Bryant? There's no better way to describe the level of expectations the Cowboys have for this year's first-round pick. "One of the most impressive things about 88 was the work ethic that was involved," Jones said of Irvin. "And of course we have a lot of respect, I do, for what Drew Pearson was about. I think that Dez has a chance to make the kind of impact of people who have worn this jersey before, and it has a nice synergy relative to our fans. … One of the first things I said after we made the pick was, 'Get No. 88 out; that's what he needs to wear.'"
94
When the Cowboys drafted DeMarcus Ware in 2005, they were hoping to finally get another Charles Haley, their No. 94 pass-rush terror of the 1990s. Ware, who wore the same number in college at Troy, has only expanded on that heritage. The NFL didn't open up 90s jerseys to defensive linemen and linebackers until 1984.
Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine, May, 2010
These are the digits that define the franchise.
by Josh Ellis
A right turn from Jackson Avenue onto Fraternity Row on the Ole Miss campus will reveal something curious to out-of-towners. The speed limit is 18 mph. Because 15 was too slow, and 20 was too fast, they decided.
And besides, 18 has special significance in Oxford, Miss. It was Archie Manning's number.
Numbers define sports, from batting averages to rushing yards to 72-hole scores. For a franchise's fan base, the digits on a jersey are transcendent, far more meaningful than as identifiers of a player in the box score. It was with great hope, for instance, that the New York Yankees gave Derek Jeter jersey No. 2 - since the other Nos. 1-5 had all been retired and enshrined in Monument Park.
The Cowboys are no different, as evidenced by Jerry Jones bestowing the No. 88 on Dez Bryant before the wide receiver had time to ask for something else. Some numbers throughout team history just seem to carry more weight than others. With that in mind, here are the Top 12 most significant jersey numbers in Dallas Cowboys history.
Why a Top 12 instead of a Top 10? Well, you know the answer ...
8
The Cowboys do not officially retire jerseys, though any future player will find it awfully hard to get his hands on this, the symbol for infinity. The No. 8 will infinitely be linked in Cowboys annals to Troy Aikman, of course, the three-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. Only Buzz Sawyer, a punter for the team in 1987, had worn the jersey previously. Funny story: when kicker Richie Cunningham came to the Cowboys in 1997, he originally asked for his college number - 8. Umm, that's taken, he was told.
12
Like Aikman, Roger Staubach earned the all-time rights to his own jersey with multiple Super Bowl wins. In 11 seasons inside the Cowboys' No. 12, Staubach became the NFL's passing champion and led the team to four title appearances, netting two rings. His number had been previously worn by a punter as well, Ron Widby, along with backup quarterback John Roach. Since his retirement after the 1979 season, though, no player has donned the 12.
17
Quarterbacks get all the attention, and Don Meredith was no exception, the first in a series of Cowboys' passers to experience some form of celebrity, wanted or unwanted. The team never stopped assigning the jersey, but it's always been Meredith's. Jason Garrett and Quincy Carter are the only quarterbacks to wear it since then, and neither duplicated Meredith's impact, though Carter acknowledged on multiple occasions the honor it was to walk in Dandy Don's shoes.
19
Lance Rentzel was the Cowboys' leading receiver while wearing No. 19 from 1967-70, but in '71 the Cowboys gave the jersey to another Lance - the greatest receiver of the '60s, Lance Alworth. He was an aging former AFL star but also a crucial piece of the Cowboys' first Super Bowl championship team in 1971. At a time when receivers were only allowed numbers 80-89, Keyshawn Johnson fell into the No. 19 because all the eighties were taken when he arrived with the Jets, then was grandfathered into keeping it. Johnson remained No. 19 throughout his career, including with the Cowboys. And, after wearing No. 14 his rookie year, Miles Austin took the number in 2007.
21
Unlike the other numbers on this list, 21 isn't part of a legacy, and there isn't one transformative figure who owns it forever. No, the 21 is here because of how important it was to the guy who made it most famous, Deion Sanders. Veteran free agents will often purchase a jersey number off younger players when they arrive, but Sanders' generosity when he signed midseason in 1995 might not ever be topped. For the rights to his beloved 21, Sanders bought rookie cornerback Alundis Brice a brand new Mercedes Benz.
22
At Boston Celtics games you'll see nearly two dozen different jerseys hanging from the rafters, but only one number dangled from Texas Stadium's sunroof, the blue 22 the Cowboys unfurled after Emmitt Smith became the all-time leading rusher. Smith's legacy almost makes Bob Hayes' Hall of Fame achievements an afterthought, but he also changed the game while sporting the double-deuces. If Hayes' accomplishments didn't disqualify the 22 from future use, Smith's certainly have.
54
First came linebacker Chuck Howley in 1961-73, a Ring of Honor stalwart. Then Randy White took over the 54 two years later. A Hall of Famer at defensive tackle, White started his career as a linebacker. Since center Mike Connelly in the inaugural season, every inhabitant of the 54 has been a linebacker. With Bobby Carpenter now gone, the latest to wear No. 54, might second-rounder Sean Lee take the reverse of his college number, 45?
74
In 50 years of Cowboys football, this is the only number to be worn in a regular season game by just one player, Bob Lilly, Mr. Cowboy, the team's very first rookie draft pick. Ring of Honor, Hall of Fame, check, check. Because of the number of linemen carried on the preseason roster the team does hand out the 74 for exhibition games. Once cuts are made, though, the player is reassigned a new jersey to wear.
81
No, Terrell Owens was far from the first Cowboy to sport this number, though like Sanders with the 21, preserving his mystique was highly important to Owens. When he signed with the Buffalo Bills last year, they simply moved young wide receiver James Hardy to No. 84, no need to bother asking. The 81 will be identified with T.O. for a while in Dallas, but it's actually the most-worn number in team history, with 22 occupants. However, Owens is the only Cowboys 81 to ever make the Pro Bowl.
84
Patrick Crayton and Joey Galloway are the most recent tenants, but 84 is most identifiable with the tight ends who have worn the digits for the Cowboys. Players such as steady, longtime blocker/pass catcher Pettis Norman to Doug Cosbie and later Jay Novacek. During the first five years of his career, spent with the Cardinals, Novacek wore No. 85, but it was taken when he got to Dallas by wide receiver Dennis McKinnon.
88
Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin, Dez Bryant? There's no better way to describe the level of expectations the Cowboys have for this year's first-round pick. "One of the most impressive things about 88 was the work ethic that was involved," Jones said of Irvin. "And of course we have a lot of respect, I do, for what Drew Pearson was about. I think that Dez has a chance to make the kind of impact of people who have worn this jersey before, and it has a nice synergy relative to our fans. … One of the first things I said after we made the pick was, 'Get No. 88 out; that's what he needs to wear.'"
94
When the Cowboys drafted DeMarcus Ware in 2005, they were hoping to finally get another Charles Haley, their No. 94 pass-rush terror of the 1990s. Ware, who wore the same number in college at Troy, has only expanded on that heritage. The NFL didn't open up 90s jerseys to defensive linemen and linebackers until 1984.
Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine, May, 2010
