NFL by the (Jersey) Numbers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tony Dorsett

Tony Dorsett, the standout running back for the Dallas Cowboys of the late 1970s and early 1980s, wore 33. Jim Brown, still considered by many to be the standard against whom all running backs are measured, retired in 1965 holding virtually all NFL season, career, and game rushing records.

Many of those season and game records were later broken by Simpson. Harris came close to passing Brown as the NFLs all-time rushing leader, but was passed late in his career by Walter Payton and finished less than 200 yards behind Brown. Oddly, in the two decades following the retirements of Harris and Dorsett, Marcus Allen was the only Hall of Fame caliber back to wear 32.

Answer: Warren Sapp

Warren Sapp, the ever-quotable and visible defensive lineman, played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1995 to 2003, making the Pro Bowl seven of those years, and helping the team to the NFL title in 2002. Gastineau was a standout defensive player for the New York Jets of the 1980s, but never won a Super Bowl.

Henderson and Siragusa both were on Super Bowl winners, but neither wore 99 (although Siragusa wore 98).

Answer: Junior Seau, Ray Nitschke, Red Grange, Lynn Swann

The players named in the question wore multiples of 11 - Bledsoe (11), Smith (22), Baugh (33), Riggins (44), so the sequence would logically continue with Seau (55), Nitschke (66), Grange (77), and Swann (88).

Answer: 1

Really, with so many firsts mentioned in the question, what number could it be, other than 1? Fritz Pollard was one of the NFLs first black players (after the 1920s, the NFL instituted a ban on black players and remained all-white until Kenny Washington joined the Los Angeles Rams in 1946) and was a player coach for the 1921 Akron Pros.

Benny Friedman was one of the first players to frequently use the forward pass, an adventurous feat when he played, as the neither the ball of the era, nor the rules, favored passing. Warren Moon had a stellar career in Canada before joining the NFL in 1984, becoming a nine-time Pro Bowler, and amassing almost 50,000 yards passing. Besides Pollard, Friedman, and Moon, early NFL pioneers Jimmy Conzelman, Paddy Driscoll, Ray Flaherty, and Curly Lambeau all wore #1, and thus made it the first jersey number to have been worn by seven Hall of Famers when they were in the prime of their careers.

Answer: 92

The two players would of course be Reggie "Minister of Defense" White, and Michael Strahan. For White, the number 92 has other significance: after the '92 season, he left the Eagles for the Packers, helping Green Bay return to being a league-leading team again for the first time since the 1960s.

Answer: LT

In honor of Lawrence "LT" Taylor.

Answer: John Hadl

Before the NFL instituted rules strictly limiting quarterbacks to wearing numbers from 1-19, John Hadl wore 21 for the San Diego Chargers from 1962 to 1972. He finished his career with the Rams, Packers, and Oilers, and eventually switched to a more conventional #12. Alworth, Fouts, and Joiner all had Hall of Fame careers for the Chargers, but wore Numbers 19, 14, and 18, respectively.

Answer: 80 - with Largent's blessing, the number was "unretired" for Rice

Out of respect for Rice, who had already smashed Largent's receiving records, Largent allowed his 80 to be "unretired" for Rice to wear for the 2004 season. Rice caught 25 passes for three touchdowns in 13 games, all well below his earlier career production, for the Seahawks that year, before briefly rejoining San Francisco to retire as a 49er.

Answer: double zero

Another AFL "free spirit" who disregarded football jersey number conventions, Otto chose the double-zero because it was the same as his last name ("ott-oh" as he said). Otto played for the Oakland Raiders from 1960 to 1974, making the Pro Bowl 12 of those 15 seasons, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Ken Burroughs, a receiver for the Houston Oilers in the 1970s, also wore 00.

Answer: Until 1984, the NFL record for most touchdown passes in a season had always been held by quarterbacks who wore #12

When Dan Marino (who of course wore #13) broke the NFL record for touchdown passes in 1984, it had been held by George Blanda (#16 of the Houston Oilers) and YA Tittle (#14 of the New York Giants). From 1971 to 1979, all Super Bowls were won by quarterbacks wearing #12 (Terry Bradshaw four times, Bob Griese and Roger Staubach twice, Ken Stabler once), but not until Tom Brady in the 2001 season did another quarterback win a Super Bowl while wearing that number.

Despite OJ Simpson and other legends playing for the team, the Buffalo Bills had never retired a player number until Kelly's was retired in 2001. Joe Namath and Roger Staubach, both members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 1985, became the first #12 quarterbacks inducted into the Hall.