The Top Number 20’s in NFL History
Many have been looking forward to this episode the greatest NFL players that wore the number 20. To help us travel back through the time space continuum of the past 100 plus years of the annals of the NFL we brought in a special guest to come up with our list for this jersey number so hang on to your flux capacitors because I have waiting to say this for awhile now, Arnie Chapman the Football History Dude welcome to the Pigpen!
The Pro Football Hall of Fame declares that the following (11) enshrined players wore number 20.
- Lem Barney
- Cliff Battles
- Brian Dawkins
- Johnny Blood McNally
- Ed Reed
- Mel Renfro
- Ronde Barber - DB Tampa Bay
Lem Barney was born September 8, 1945 - Lem Barney was a cornerback out of Jackson State University. The six foot 188 pound defensive back was a 3-time All-Conference player in the Southwestern Conference during college but was still relatively unknown when the Detroit Lions drafted him in the second round of the 1967 NFL Draft. Lem started off his professional career in spectacular style. In a quote from Barney on the Pro Football Hall of Fame's website the defender described his first play in the NFL as," I dove and intercepted it and did a forward shoulder roll got up and ran into the endzone, I think 24 yard. And I said man this is going to be easy." He sure made it look easy as he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie and was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Not only did the speedster play the corner but he was also an excellent kick returner and his team's emergency punter. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Lem Barney in the class of 1992.
Cliff Battles was born May 1, 1910
Brian Dawkins was born October 13, 1973 - Brian Dawkins a safety out of Clemson University was born.The Philadelphia Eagles selected Dawkins as the 61st overall pick in the second round of the 1996 NFL Draft. In 16 NFL seasons he played 13 with the Philadelphia Eagles and made nine Pro Bowls including being an All-Pro 5 times. He played out the remaining years of his NFL career with the Denver Broncos according to the Pro Football Hall of Fames website bio on him. Dawkins served the Eagles as an executive of football operations for player development from 2016 to 2018 and was with the organization when they won Super Bowl LII. The Pro Football Hall of Fame invited Brian Dawkins into their exclusive Gold Jacket Club in 2018.
Ed Reed was born September 11, 1978 - Ed Reed was a former Safety for the University of Miami Hurricanes. The prolific safety was drafted as the 24th overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, and Reed played his entire 12 year career there. Reed started all 16 games as a rookie, ended up being the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year and played in 6 Pro Bowls. Ed was a ball hawk as he had 64 interceptions in 167 games played scoring 7 touchdowns. Ed Reed was selected to enter both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
Mel Renfro was born December 30, 1941 - Houston, Texas - The super athletic running back of the Oregon Ducks Mel Renfro was born. Yes Mel was an offensive weapon in college and not roaming the secondary like he did on the other side of the ball as a pro in Dallas. We will get to that in a moment, but for now lets learn about his collegiate days. Renfro according to the footballfoundation.org website led Oregon in rushing and scoring throughout his three seasons of 1961 through 1963. After the 1962 season he was voted as a Consensus First Team All- America player. The College Football hall of Fame held the doors open wide to welcome Mel Renfro to their fold of legends in 1986. Renfro became the second pick of the 1964 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys who selected him to play defensive back. For the next 14 seasons Mel played either corner of safety on the Cowboys defense and also acted as a return man for much of his career as he accumulated over 2200 kick return yards over his tenure. Renfro made the Pro Bowl in each of his first ten seasons in the League. Mel Renfro was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Barry Sanders
Born July 16, 1968 - Wichita, Kansas - Barry Sanders the running back from Oklahoma State during the 1986 through 1988 seasons. The FootballFoundation.org states that Sanders learned how to work hard as a youngster helping his father put on roofs in the hot Wichita summers. This work ethic stuck with his through his gridiron career at both the college and the professional levels and paid dividends on Saturdays and Sundays. The hard work also taught him to be selfless and humble as even after scoring one of his many touchdowns he would generally just hand the ball to an official and trot off the field, with out an attention grabbing celebration to be seen. While Oklahoma State he played behind All-America Thurman Thomas for two seasons. He used this "grooming" time wisely in the seasons that he spent as a back-up becoming a special teams demon, even leading the nation in kickoff return average in 1987. When Barry became the featured Cowboy back, he put together what the NFF describes as the most remarkable season ever compiled by a college running back. That year he set 34 NCAA records in winning the Heisman Trophy, the Walter Camp, and Maxwell Awards as the nation's top player. Barry led the nation in rushing with his 2,628 yards, 3250 all-purpose yards, and scored 234 points. Sanders ran for over 300 yards in six games and exceeded 200 yards seven times. Barry was rewarded for these feats in college by being selected as the top pick of the Detroit Lions in the 1989 NFL Draft, spending 10 seasons in the Motor City. In fact he became the first player to ever rush for 1000 or more yards in his first ten seasons according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website. On the road to professional pigskin immortality Sanders, with 1,304 yards rushing in 1990, topped all runners, and then repeated claiming the top NFL ground gainer title in 1994 with 1,883 yards and in 1996 running for 1,553 yards. His 44 receptions for 283 yards in 1994 gave him a combined 2,166 yards from scrimmage. The most impressive feat of his remarkable career, however, is when he won the NFL MVP award in 1997, as he rushed for a league-best 2,053 yards and gained another 305 yards on 33 catches for an amazing 2,358 combined yards gained. To ice that he gained at least 100 yards in 14 consecutive games! The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Barry Sanders in 2004 while Mr. Sanders also entered the College Football Hall of Fame for his legendary college career at Oklahoma State in 2003. Many have described Barry Sanders as the best pure running back to ever play the game, as he left the NFL at a fairly young age with a lot of yardage on his stat bio.
Curly Lambeau
Born April 9, 1898, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, was Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Curly Lambeau. Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin native George Whitney Calhoun, founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919, serving as team captain in the team's first year before becoming player-coach in 1920.He was the star player of the Packers in the 1920s, as Curly was the team's primary runner and passer, accounting for 35 touchdowns in 77 games. He won his only NFL championship as a player in 1929. As a coach from 1920 through the 1949 season, he was rivaled by only George Halas in wins and longevity ( and later Bill Belichick.) Lambeau also coached eight players who went on to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Pete Henry
Born October 31, 1897, in Mansfield, Ohio - Wilbur better known as Pete Henry, was a 3 year All-American tackle from Washington and Jefferson College. He was perhaps the largest lineman of his era as he stood 5-foot-11-inches tall and weighed in at a solid 245 pounds. Pete signed to play with the Canton Bulldogs coincidently on the same day that the NFL’s precursor the American Professional Football Association formed in Ralph Hay’s Hupmobile Showroom in Canton. The good natured Henry off the field was replaced by a focused beast on the gridiron. Pete’s most notable season had to be in 1923 with the Bulldogs according to the National Football Foundation's website. Henry booted a 94 yard punt, blocked a punt, scored a touchdown and kicked nine field goals via drop kick , oh and by the way the Canton Bulldogs won their second consecutive NFL Championship that year due in part to his great play. In the NFL for a total of 8 seasons not only with Canton but was a member of the Pottsville Maroons and the New York Giants too. Pete Henry was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Pete in 1963’s class of inductees.
Paddy Driscoll
Born January 11, 1895, in Evanston, Illinois, was College and Pro Football Hall of Fame back, Paddy Driscoll. This amazing athlete played college football as a quarterback and halfback for the Northwestern football team in 1915 and 1916. In 1917, he played Major League Baseball as an infielder for the Chicago Cubs. He joined the United States Navy during World War I and played for the undefeated 1918 Great Lakes Navy football team that won the 1919 Rose Bowl. A triple-threat man in football, he was regarded as the best drop kicker and one of the best overall players in the early years of the National Football League. Driscoll was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974. Paddy was on the Pro Football rosters of for the Hammond All-Stars (1917), Hammond Pros (1919), Racine/Chicago Cardinals (1920–1925), and Chicago Bears (1926–1929).
NFL Jersey 20. NFL Jersey 1. NFL Jersey 2.
Ray Flaherty
Born September 1, 1903, in Lamont, Washington was Ray Flaherty was a player and head coach in the early NFL and he spent a total of 18 years in pro football. Flaherty played football at Washington State before transferring to Gonzaga. After school in 1926 he joined the original AFL's LA Wildcats team before playing end with Red Grange's New York Yankees in 1927 and 1928. After this Yankees franchise folded, Ray played in the NFL for the New York Football Giants. After his playing days were over he took the job of coaching the Boston Redskins in 1936 and in his 7 seasons at the helm, his Redskin teams won two NFL Championships and four division titles. We have to keep in perspective George Halas and his Chicago Bears were the dominant force in the NFL during this era. Despite the powerful Bears Flaherty's squads defeated the Chicago teams in 2 out of 3 NFL championship games where they opposed each other. Coach Flaherty was also an innovator as he introduced a couple of significant items to football, the screen pass behind the line of scrimmage and the two platoon system where one group specialized in passing and the other in the run game. Mr. Flaherty left the Redskins after the 1942 NFL Championship win to serve his country during World War II. After the war Flaherty returned to coach the New York Yankees in the brand new All American Football Conference and quickly guided the Yanks to two straight AAFC titles. He coached his final season in 1949 with the AAFC's Chicago Hornets and closed the brilliant coaching career with a record of 80-37-5 and an awesome .676 winning percentage! The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined this great coach in the entry class of 1976 as a coach.
