Welcome back to our series on the greatest Green Bay Packers players ever to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.
Over our last couple of entries, we've had quite a few members of the Packers Hall of Fame from which to choose, with six at No. 21 and five at No. 22. And while we don't have quite as many here at No. 23, there are still a couple on this list of those to don the digit for the Green & Gold over the years, which is as follows:
- Jaire Alexander, CB
- Roosevelt Blackmon, DB
- Jim Capuzzi, B
- Chuck Clanton, DB
- Averell Daniell, OT
- Matthew Dorsett, CB
- Johnathan Franklin, RB
- Clyde Goodnight, E
- Darrien Gordon, CB/KR
- Tiger Greene, S
- Maurice Harvey, S
- Noah Herron, RB
- Bob Hudson, RB
- Val Jansante, E
- Billy Jenkins, S
- Jim Lankas, FB
- Charlie Leigh, RB
- Harry Mattos, B
- Dave McCloughan, CB
- Skyy Moore, WR
- Dimitri Nance, RB
- Jerry Norton, DB
- Bob Nussbaumer, HB
- Earl Ohlgren, DE
- Don Perkins, FB
- Steve Pritko, E
- Damarious Randall, DB
- Terry Randolph, DB
- Mark Roman, DB
- Al Romine, HB
- Dan Sandifer, DB
- Ben Smith, E
- Alex Urban, DE/E
- Sammy Walker, CB
- Travis Williams, RB/KR
- Emanuel Wilson, RB
- Paul Winslow, DB
- Earl Witte, B
- Whitey Woodin, OL
- Glenn Young, DB
Before we get to the two Hall of Famers, we should at least make mention of Jaire Alexander, who's been the best to wear No. 23 in this century, earning both a pair of Pro Bowl selections and a pair of Second-Team All-Pro nods in 2020 and 2022. Truth be told, he could have very well ended up taking this slot had injuries not derailed his career, but that's not how things played out.
The first Hall of Famer we considered was Whitey Woodin, who you've already seen earlier in this series and certainly would have been a strong choice for a second spot here. Instead, however, we've opted to go in a different direction to get a new name on our list, that being legendary kick returner Travis Williams.
Travis Williams scored four TDs on kickoff returns for the Green Bay Packers as a rookie in 1967
While Williams wasn't the most highly touted player coming out of Arizona State, Vince Lombardi was a fan, and as such, the Packers, coming off a victory in the very first edition of what we now call the Super Bowl, took him in the fourth round of the 1967 NFL Draft with the 93rd overall selection.
And Lombardi's intuition paid off immediately.
While Williams didn't contribute much as a running back, at least not during the regular season, recording just 188 yards and a single touchdown as a rusher, he certainly made his mark as a return man.
While he may have only handled 18 kickoff returns as a rookie in 1967, he returned four of them for touchdowns, thus setting an NFL record for the most such scores in a single season that stands to this day. Cecil Turner matched the mark for the Chicago Bears in 1970, but the speedster who was known as "The Road Runner" still holds the record for a rookie.
And as he took the opening kickoff of a Week 9 win over the Cleveland Browns 87 yards to the house and followed up with an 85-yard return for a touchdown later in that first quarter, he was the first and still just one of two players with two kickoff return TDs in the same quarter, the other being Ted Ginn Jr., who did so for the Miami Dolphins in November 2009 against the New York Jets.
Furthermore, as those 18 returns went for 739 yards, Williams' 41.1-yard average remains the highest of any single season in NFL history. And while he only returned one kick during the Packers' postseason run toward a second straight Super Bowl title, he contributed 137 yards and two touchdowns as a rusher.
In 1969, Williams had his best year as a back, tallying 536 yards and four touchdowns on the ground and another 275 yards and three scores as a receiver. In a Week 7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers that year, he became the first Packers player ever to record both a kickoff return touchdown and a punt return touchdown in the same game, while also becoming the first in franchise history to surpass 300 total net yards, going for 314 after racking up 164 on four kickoff returns, 83 on his lone punt return, 48 (and another touchdown) on five carries, and 19 on one reception.
Williams was traded to the Los Angeles Rams following the 1970 season, and his career was sadly cut short in 1972 due to a knee injury. Despite his short run in the NFL, his six career TDs on kickoffs are good for a tie for the third-most in league history, with only Josh Cribbs (8) and Cordarrelle Patterson (9) going for more.
Williams, who died in 1991 at the age of 45, was posthumously inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1997.
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
- No. 18: Was one of the NFL's first dual-threat quarterbacks
- No. 19: Had his career cut short by the Bears
- No. 20: Has held a record for nearly 100 years
- No. 21: Has the most defensive TDs in NFL history
- No. 22: Also served in the U.S. Congress
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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