Jeremy McFarlin of the Football is Family Podcast stopped by the Pigpen to share his thoughts on the greatest NFL players to wear the number 6 on their jersey. We had a great dicussion found in the podcast up above.
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame there are two players that they consider to have worn the number 6 proudly that have a bronze statue in their Canton, Ohio facility; Benny Friedman and Ray Flaherty.
- Benny Friedman: Born March 18, 1905 - Benny was a triple threat player out of Michigan University. The pinnacle of his collegiate career may have been in 1926, when Michigan was battling for the Big Ten championship and the Wolverines were trailing Ohio State 10-0 early in their conference showdown. Coach Fielding Yost suddenly decided to unleash the air attack of two great Hall of Famers, quarterback Benny Friedman and end Bennie Oosterbaan. With Oosterbaan making circus catches off Friedman's soft throws, Michigan roared from behind to win, 17-16 according to the NFF. Friedman ended up as a two-time All-America quarterback. Benny Friedman was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. Benny played with the Cleveland Bulldogs (1927), Detroit Wolverines (1928), New York Giants (1929-1931), and the Brooklyn Dodgers (1932-1934). According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Friedman was one of the early great passers of the NFL. In 1927 as a rookie he threw a League record 11 touchdowns. He then broke that record in 1929 when he tossed 20 scoring passes! Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement in 2005.
- Ray Flaherty: Wore the #6 for only one season, 1931 with the Giants. Born September 1, 1903 - 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
Players Not Yet in the Hall Of Fame
- Waddy Young : September 14, 1916 - Waddy Young was a former end from the University of Oklahoma that played in the late 1930's. He went professional and played in the NFL for the Brooklyn Dodgers football franchise and played in the National Football League's very first televised game on October 22, 1939. This brave man left pro football on his own accord to become a pilot for the United States and flew one of America's B-24 Liberator bomber planes in the skies over Europe. He logged over 9000 hours inthe air fighting the Nazi's. He later volunteered to go into the Pacific theatre to fly against Japanese pilots flying the B-29 Superfortress. We lost this hero on January 9, 1945 as his plane crashed over the skies of Tokyo while he was assisting a fellow US pilot whose plane was in distress. The two planes ended up colliding, killing all on board. The National Football Foundation recognized Waddy Young as they placed him into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
- Jay Cutler wore the number 6 from 2006 through 2017. It was the only number he wore in the NFL including his seasons spent in Denver, Chicago and Miami. Cutler threw 227 TDs to 160 interceptions. His overall win/loss as the starting QB was 74-79.
- Baker Mayfield: Career TD 75 to interceptions 43 and a starting game record of 23-22 and one playoff win.
Other players who wore number 6 are Quarterbacks Mark Wilson and Bubby Brister, Punter -John James, Brett Kern and Thomas Morstead, Kicker - Joe Nedney, Kevin Butler and Rolf Benirschke
A speical thanks to the Pro Football Reference website for information they share on these great players. Check them out at Pro-Football-Reference.com
