Ryan Longwell best at number eight

With only days left until the start of the Green Bay Packers NFL season, our countdown to the big day continues.

Sunday, Sept. 11, is the day when the Green Bay Packers travel to Jacksonville to take on the upstart Jaguars.  

Yesterday we took a look at number 9, a number worn by none other than one of the most despised Chicago Bears players who just so happened to spend his final days in the league in Green Bay,  Jim McMahon.

So, we quickly move away from number nine and on to #8 a jersey worn by backup quarterbacks Mark Brunell and Anthony Dilweg, and most recently by Packers punter Tim Masthay.

As a matter of fact, since 1950 there have been just seven players to wear the number. In addition to the three aforementioned, you’ve got Bob Forte, Ray Pelfrey and Max Zendejas.

But today we focus on kicker Ryan Longwell – a player who came out of nowhere to take over the kicking duties when the Packers parted ways with Hall of Famer Chris Jacke and parted ways with Brett Conway in the mid-1990s. Though Longwell himself would eventually leave the team to sign with those Minnesota Vikings, the time he spent in Green Bay was pretty special.

So with that information in hand, we turn our attention to John Maxymuk, the author of “Packers by the Numbers: Jersey Numbers and the Players Who Wore them.”

Turn the page and see how he describes Longwell …

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