Welcome back to our series covering the greatest Green Bay Packers players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.
This marks the second entry of the second half of our journey, and we've certainly got more than enough players from which to choose here at No. 51. So, without further ado, let's go ahead and get rolling by looking at everyone who's donned the digit for the Green & Gold over the years.
- Keshawn Banks, LB
- Krys Barnes, LB
- Jeff Brady, LB
- Blair Bush, C
- Irv Comp, B
- Lon Evans, OL
- Kyler Fackrell, LB
- Hal Faverty, C/LB
- Ed Frutig, E
- Buckets Goldenberg, G/B
- Jim Gueno, LB
- Larry Hefner, LB
- Cal Hubbard, OL/DE
- Torrance Marshall, LB
- Jeremiah Martin, DE
- Ron Monaco, LB
- Jim Morrissey, LB
- Nick Niemann, LB
- Nate Palmer, LB
- Brady Poppinga, LB
- Guy Prather, LB
- Jim Ringo, C
- Herm Schneidman, FB
- Ron Simpkins, LB
- D.J. Smith, LB
- John Stonebraker, E
- Len Szafaryn, OT
- Clayton Weishuhn, LB
- Brian Williams, LB
- Mark Williams, LB
The list above features five players who have been inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame, four of whom won titles during the Curly Lambeau era.
The first in franchise history to wear the number was Buckets Goldenberg, who sported it for one season in 1934. Next up is Pro Football (and Baseball) Hall of Famer Cal Hubbard, who wore it in 1935, and then you've got Lon Evans, who wore it in 1936.
Moving into the 1940s, we come to Irv Comp, a phenomenal two-way player who once led the league in passing yards and also retired as the league's official all-time interceptions leader. Unlike the trio of players listed above, Comp wore No. 51 for his entire run in Green Bay, which spanned from 1943 to 1949, and it's an absolute shame that we can't make him our call here.
But the reason we can't do so is that our selection, who comes from the Vince Lombardi era, simply accomplished too much, and that selection is center Jim Ringo.
Jim Ringo once owned the record for the most consecutive starts in NFL history
After a stellar career at Syracuse, Ringo was taken by the Packers in the seventh round of the 1953 NFL Draft with the 79th overall selection. At 6-foot-1 and roughly 210 pounds when he entered the league, the New Jersey native himself doubted his ability to be able to genuinely compete at the professional level and actually left his first training camp after less than two weeks.
Convinced by his wife to return, Ringo won the starting center job but saw his rookie season come to an end after just five games due to a knee injury. But upon his return, he became one of the most durable and best centers in NFL history.
From 1954 until the time he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles following the 1963 season, he started 126 consecutive games for the Packers, not including the three consecutive NFL Championship Games in which he appeared from 1960 to 1962, the last two of which resulted in Vince Lombardi's first two titles.
And in the seven-season stretch from 1957 to 1963, Ringo earned seven straight trips to the Pro Bowl and seven total All-Pro selections, receiving First-Team honors in six of those campaigns, with the only Second-Team nod coming in 1958.
While he added some weight as his career progressed, he pretty much peaked at 220 pounds, but the fact that he wasn't as big as other linemen is what helped him thrive, especially when Lombardi came to Titletown in 1959. In Lombardi's offense, particularly on the famed sweep with Jim Taylor, Ringo used his quickness to compensate for his lack of size, and his ability to perfectly execute cut blocks on both defensive tackles and linebackers was unparalleled.
As mentioned, Ringo was traded to the Eagles ahead of the 1964 season, and he continued to thrive in Philly, earning three more trips to the Pro Bowl and a pair of Second-Team All-Pro selections in four seasons. He also extended his streak of consecutive starts to 182, and when he retired after the 1967 season, that stood as the longest in NFL history.
After a year away from the game, he returned to the NFL as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears in 1969 and spent 20 seasons in various roles around the league, also spending stints with the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, and New York Jets.
Ringo was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1974, into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, and then into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1987.
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
- No. 23: Holds several NFL kick-return records
- No. 24: Owns a unique piece of Super Bowl history
- No. 25: Might not be who you think
- No. 26: Holds a historic place in NFL history
- No. 27: Started hot but fizzled fast
- No. 28: A good defender on some bad teams
- No. 29: Still holds an unofficial team record
- No. 30: It's not the one who's the Packers' all-time leading rusher
- No. 31: Had his jersey retired by another team
- No. 32: Is a member of another team's Ring of Honor
- No. 33: Did so much more than people may realize
- No. 34: An underrated dual-threat back
- No. 35: Gave the Packers a unique win over the Bears
- No. 36: Invented the Lambeau Leap
- No. 37: Suited up for the Packers at the wrong time
- No. 38: Left the Packers as the NFL's all-time passing leader
- No. 39: Was taken in three different MLB drafts
- No. 40: The only man in both the Baseball and Pro Football Hall of Fame
- No. 41: Made a big impact in a little time
- No. 42: Was the charter member of an elite club
- No. 43: Inadvertently created a new play
- No. 44: Made the Hall of Fame despite only having one eye
- No. 45: Left the NFL with the most TDs in history
- No. 46: Was underappreciated in the Lombardi era
- No. 47: Later played on the PGA Tour
- No. 48: Just missed out on the Lombardi era
- No. 49: Was one of the best O-linemen of his era
- No. 50: The Packers' all-time leading tackler
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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