Welcome back to our series on the greatest Green Bay Packers players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.
In our last entry at No. 21, we had six members of the Packers Hall of Fame from which to choose, and here at No. 22, we've got several more. But before we get to the winner, let's first have a look at every player who's sported the number for the Green & Gold over the years.
- Kahlil Bell, RB
- Kapri Bibbs, RB
- Dick Bilda, B
- Lewis Billups, CB
- J.R. Boone, B
- Bucky Brooks, CB
- Bill Butler, DB
- Lavvie Dilweg, E
- Dick Evans, E
- Milt Gantenbein, E/DE
- Billy Grimes, HB
- Darick Holmes, RB
- Darius Jackson, RB
- Shemar Jean-Charles, CB
- Curly Lambeau, B
- Mark Lee, DB
- Pat Lee, CB
- Nick Luchey, RB
- Marquand Manuel, S
- Lenny McGill, CB
- Roy McKay, B
- Jerron McMillian, S
- Eric Metcalf, RB/KR
- Ernie Pannell, OT
- Johnny Papit, HB
- De'Mond Parker, RB
- Elijah Pitts, HB
- Jay Rhodemyre, C
- Aaron Ripkowski, FB
- Bill Roberts, HB
- Robert Rochell, CB
- Jim Shanley, HB
- Jon Staggers, WR
- Pierre Strong, RB
- Keith Thibodeaux, CB
- Dexter Williams, RB
You undoubtedly noticed the great Curly Lambeau on the list, and while it's always difficult not to roll with arguably the greatest icon in franchise history, the fact that he only wore No. 22 during the 1922 season takes him out of the running here.
Joining Lambeau in the Packers Hall of Fame are end Milt Gantenbein, who was one of Lambeau's top players during the 1930s, defensive back Mark Lee, who tallied 31 interceptions for Green Bay from 1980 to 1990, good for the eighth-most in franchise history, and halfback Mark Pitts, who was a member of every championship team for the Packers under Vince Lombardi in the 1960s.
But the call here is the HOF'er whom we haven't yet mentioned, that being Lavvie Dilweg, who was a menace on both sides of the ball back in the day.
Lavvie Dilweg was the top two-way end in the NFL for years
An All-American in 1925 at Marquette, where he also starred on the basketball and track teams, Dilweg, despite attending law school, still began his NFL career in 1926 with the Milwaukee Badgers before taking his talents to Green Bay in 1927.
Before Don Hutson came into the picture in the mid-1930s, Dilweg was seen by most as the top two-way end in the league, earning five consecutive First-Team All-Pro selections from 1927 to 1931 and back-to-back Second-Team nods in 1932 and 1933. The last three seasons of that first stretch, of course, also came with titles, as the Packers three-peated as NFL champs from 1929 to 1931.
Now, we do have to note that Dilweg also wore No. 61 during his eight-year run with the team, but that was only during his final season in 1934, which was the only year in which he didn't earn some sort of accolade.
While the Milwaukee native played much of his career in the pre-stat era, he's been unofficially credited by historians to have tallied 126 catches for 2,053 yards, ranking second only to fellow Green Bay legend Johnny Blood among every NFL player during the league's first 15 years of existence.
And despite playing defensive end on the other side of the ball, Dilweg is also unofficially credited with 27 career interceptions, again ranking second to only Blood during those early years of the NFL. Lambeau once called Dilweg the "greatest end the seven-man line type of defense ever developed," and when you get such praise from a legend like that, you know you've done your job well.
It's criminal that Dilweg has never been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, although he was included in the Hall's official All-Decade Team for the 1920s, and he was at least part of the first-ever Packers Hall of Fame class in 1970.
Once his playing days were over, Dilweg served one term as United States Congressman from 1943 to 1945 and was also appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission in 1961.
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
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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