Passing By Uniform Number

by Chase Stuart on July 25, 2015

Most people know about quarterbacks and the number 12. Even if you didn’t know where it started — Al Dorow of the New York Titans made the Pro Bowl in ’61 wearing number 12, while Charley Johnson of the St. Louis Cardinals was the first #12 to throw for 3,000 yards, doing so in 1963 and 1964 — you can probably recite most of the history from there. John Brodie, who entered the NFL in 1957, was the first great #12, while Joe Namath took the number to iconic status in the late ’60s. It was popularized by Roger Staubach (who also wore 12 at Navy in the early ’60s), Bob Griese, Terry Bradshaw, and Ken Stabler in the ’70s. ^[1]And, sadly, not popularized by Greg Cook. That means the Super Bowl winning quarterback wore #12 for nine straight years, beginning with Super Bowl VI. Doug Williams even wore it in Tampa Bay, although punter Steve Cox forced Williams to don #17 when in Washington.

Lynn Dickey wore it for the Packers in the early ’80s, while Randall Cunningham and Jim Kelly repped #12 later in the decade. Stan Humphries made it to the Super Bowl wearing #12 with the Chargers, while Erik Kramer set the still-standing franchise records for passing yards and passing touchdowns in a season while wearing #12 for the Bears in 1995. The only time a Ravens quarterback threw for 4,000 yards or 30 touchdowns was when Vinny Testaverde wore #12 in 1996. Chris Chandler took the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 1998 wearing #12, while Rich Gannon became the second great Raiders quarterback to wear twelve a year later.

And since then, three guys you might have heard of have worn #12: Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Andrew Luck.

Since 1950, players wearing #12 have thrown for 675,044 yards. No other number has yet to hit the 500,000-yard mark. But that brings us to today’s trivia: Which number has produced the second most passing yards since 1950?

Trivia hint 1	Select Show
In 2014, there were six quarterbacks who started a game and wore this number, with three of them starting at least 13 games.

Trivia hint 2	Select Show
Only once has a quarterback wearing this number topped the 4500-yard mark, but that quarterback threw for 4,952 yards and 32 touchdowns.

Trivia hint 3	Select Show
This one’s for John.

Click 'Show' for the Answer	Select Show
John Elway is certainly the most famous #7, but that number has also been worn by Bert Jones, Steve Beuerlein, Randall Cunningham (in Minnesota), Boomer Esiason, Joe Theismann, Michael Vick, Ron Jaworski, and Doug Flutie (in Buffalo), among others. In 2014, Ben Roethlisberger (the answer to hint #2), Colin Kaepernick, Geno Smith, Zach Mettenberger, Christian Ponder, and Chad Henne all wore number seven. Bob Waterfield was the first great quarterback to wear #7, but other than Jim Finks, the number didn’t seem to stick. Denver’s Mickey Slaughter primed the number for Elway in the early ’60s, but it wasn’t until Bert Jones, Ron Jaworski, Theismann, Craig Morton (in Denver, also warming it up) and Dan Pastorini in the late ’70s that the number became a popular choice for quarterbacks.

Click 'Show' for the Answer

Show

The table below shows all passing yards by uniform number since 1950:

Rk	PYD	Uni #
1	675044	12
2	493569	7
3	420969	11
4	400306	10
5	388967	14
6	371778	17
7	361147	9
8	336269	16
9	314432	8
10	239234	15
11	209224	18
12	173468	5
13	165002	13
14	145218	19
15	142842	3
16	138561	4
17	83802	6
18	78738	2
19	76803	1
20	35126	21
21	26733	22
22	16225	42
23	4914	25
24	4767	63
25	4469	32
26	4148	60
27	3276	33
28	2966	38
29	2428	20
30	2251	61
31	2115	28
32	2042	30
33	1945	44
34	1914	35
35	1424	62
36	1339	52
37	1185	34
38	1128	23
39	1029	40
40	1013	49
41	916	24
42	809	64
43	798	68
44	727	86
45	683	88
46	682	39
47	656	26
48	634	83
49	539	41
50	530	82
51	508	80
52	442	47
53	421	48
54	410	84
55	398	36
56	380	81
57	371	29
58	363	37
59	355	77
60	310	87
61	285	89
62	273	46
63	232	27
64	189	85
65	153	31
66	84	45
67	64	43
68	31	74
69	24	76
70	19	55
70	19	56
72	9	53
73	3	59
74	0	0
74	0	50
74	0	51
74	0	54
74	0	57
74	0	58
74	0	65
74	0	66
74	0	67
74	0	69
74	0	70
74	0	71
74	0	72
74	0	73
74	0	75
74	0	78
74	0	79

Two more notes:

Punter/receiver/defensive end Horace Gillom was a good player with the Browns for nine years. And in 1950, Gillom, who wore #59, completed a 3-yard pass.

The largest number to gain any passing yards in the NFL is number 89. It was worn most prominently by Frank Wycheck, who threw for 148 yards in his career, even if his most famous pass never gained any passing yards.

And no, there has yet to be a player wearing a number in the 90s who has thrown for any passing yards. You’re up, J.J. Watt.

References[+]

References
↑1	And, sadly, not popularized by Greg Cook.

Tagged as: uniforms, Weekend Trivia

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