Welcome back to our 100-part series on the greatest Green Bay Packers players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.
As we've got a long list of players who've worn No. 18 for the Green & Gold over the years, let's not waste any time and get right to it.
- Adolph Bieberstein, G
- Hank Bruder, B
- Randall Cobb, WR
- Ted Cremer, E
- Joe Danelo, K
- Leo Disend, OT
- Chuck Drulis, G
- Ken Duncan, P
- Tony Falkenstein, RB
- Lou Ferry, DE
- Paul Fitzgibbon, B
- Malik Heath, WR
- Carlyle Holiday, WR
- Bob Kercher, DE
- Ken Keuper, B
- Eddie Kotal, B
- Bob Monnett, HB
- Lee Mulleneaux, C
- Doug Pederson, QB
- Pid Purdy, QB
- Desmond Ridder, QB
- Charley Robinson, G
- Tobin Rote, QB
- Russ Saunders, FB
- Joe Shield, QB
- Fred Shirey, OT
- Mike Tomczak, QB
- George Tuttle, E
- Alex Urban, E
- Fred Vant Hull, G
- Randy Vataha, WR
- Randy Walker, P
- Chuck Washington
- Elmer Wilkens, E
- Billy Young, G
- Jim Zorn, QB
See, we told you it was a long list. Now, as far as the actual options for this particular slot, there were certainly a few to consider.
For starters, there were a couple of members of the Packers Hall of Fame that deserve to be mentioned, those being Hank Bruder, who was chosen for one of our earlier entries, and Bob Monnett, each of whom played both offense and defense for Green Bay back in the 1930s and were absolutely fantastic on both sides of the ball.
We also took a long look at Randall Cobb, who racked up 6,316 receiving yards over the course of his 10 seasons with the team, good for the 11th-most in franchise history. One would assume he'll be welcomed into the Packers Hall of Fame at some point down the road.
In the end, though, we opted for the only other member of the team's HOF on this list, Tobin Rote, who often gets overlooked as one of the greatest Green Bay quarterbacks of all time because he played on some bad teams in the 1950s.
Tobin Rote was a great player on some bad Green Bay Packers teams in the 1950s
The last couple of years of the Curly Lambeau era in the '40s didn't go so well, and Green Bay's misfortunes continued into the '50s. But Rote, who was taken by the Packers in the second round of the 1950 draft with the 17th overall selection, was undoubtedly a bright spot in those dark days, as he was one of the first genuine dual-threat QBs in league history.
There's no getting around the fact that he had some issues with accuracy as a passer, as he completed just 44.6 percent of his passes and threw 199 interceptions during his seven-year run with the Packers. But that doesn't take away from the positives he brought to the field.
In those seven seasons with Green Bay, the Rice alum threw for 11,535 yards, leading the league in passing in 1956 with 2,203 yards. He also tossed 89 touchdowns, leading the NFL in both 1955 (17) and 1956 (18), with those 89 passing TDs being good for the third-most of any quarterback from 1950 to 1956, trailing only Hall of Famers Bobby Layne and Norm Van Brocklin.
But Rote also got things got done with his legs.
In a 1951 matchup with the Chicago Bears, he ran for 150 yards, which stood as an NFL record by the most rushing yards by a QB in a single game for more than half a century until Michael Vick went for 173 against the Minnesota Vikings in 2002. Rote finished eighth in the league among all players that season with 523 yards on the ground.
During his run with Green Bay, he led the team in rushing yards three times and in rushing touchdowns on five occasions, ultimately racking up 2,205 yards and 29 TDs.
Sadly, he never had one winning season with the Packers, with the team's best record during his tenure being 6-6 in both 1952 and 1955. Green Bay traded him ahead of the 1957 season to the Detroit Lions, with whom he immediately won an NFL Championship. And after a few years in the CFL, he won an AFL title with the San Diego Chargers in 1963.
We should mention that Rote wore No. 38 in his first two years in Green Bay, but he wore No. 18 the rest of the way, which is why he gets this nod. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1974.
Other Green Bay Packers jersey honorees
- No. 0: There's literally only one choice here
- No. 1: Micah Parsons isn't the pick just yet
- No. 2: The Packers' all-time leading scorer
- No. 3: The second player in franchise history to have his jersey retired
- No. 4: There's no introduction needed here
- No. 5: This player should have been the last to wear the number but wasn't
- No. 6: A genuine ironman
- No. 7: This player was straight magic (until he wasn't)
- No. 8: This player has the second-most points in Packers history
- No. 9: The winner here has an extremely famous relative
- No. 10: A star on the rise
- No. 11: Packers' first title-winning QB
- No. 12: Obviously isn't up for debate
- No. 13: Had 'no weakness'
- No. 14: The first to have his jersey retired by the Packers
- No. 15: Owns a special piece of NFL history
- No. 16: Shares his name with an MLB legend
- No. 17: Had to beat out several Hall of Famers
This list will be updated daily until all 100 entries are complete, so be sure to check back in with Lombardi Ave for updates.
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