Best Green Bay Packers player to wear No. 76 was the reason for an NFL rule change

Welcome back to our series highlighting the greatest Green Bay Packers players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.

We've got quite the intriguing entry here at No. 76, so let's just go and dive in, as we've got a few different things to discuss with this particular digit. As is tradition, though, let's kick things off by taking a look at everyone who's worn this number for the Green & Gold over the years.

Mike Ariey, OT
Quinton Bohanna, DL
Alphonso Carreker, DE
Chad Clifton, OT
Bernie Crimmins, B/G
Mike Daniels, DL
Bob Dees, OT
Harry Galbreath, G
John Kovatch, E
Mike McCoy, DT
Tom Miller, E
Tom O'Malley, QB
Jon Runyan Jr., G
Bob Skoronski, OT
Tim Stokes, OT
Kadeem Telfort, OT
David Viaene, OT
Matt Willig, OT

There are three members of the Packers Hall of Fame on this list, the first of whom we'll discuss literally played just two games for Green Bay but served the team well in another capacity. Tom Miller was an old-school end who played two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1943 and 1944, one season with the team now known as the Washington Commanders in 1945, and then the two games with the Packers in 1946, with that being the entirety of his playing career.

Eight years later, in 1954, Miller returned to the Packers as a member of the front office, and for the next three-plus decades served in various roles, those being sales promotional director (1956-59), publicity director (1959-66), assistant to the general manager (1966-75), business general manager (1975-81), and assistant to the president –business (1981-88). So, that's a fun little story for a guy who wore No. 75 for two games.

Also enshrined in the Packers Hall of Fame is Bob Skoronski, who served as the team's starting left tackle (and center on occasion) for the entirety of the Vince Lombardi era, earning one Pro Bowl selection and helping Green Bay to five titles in the 1960s.

At the end of the day, however, we opted to roll with Chad Clifton.

Chad Clifton was an underrated blindside blocker for both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers

A back-to-back All-SEC selection in 1998 and 1999 at the University of Tennessee, helping the Vols to a national championship in the former campaign, Clifton was taken by Green Bay in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft with the 44th overall selection.

The 6-foot-5, 320-pounder took over as the team's starting left offensive tackle just a few games into his rookie season, and he quickly developed a reputation for being one of the top blindside blockers in the league, which we're sure Brett Favre greatly appreciated.

But it was a different kind of blindside that nearly ended Clifton's career before it ever really got rolling.

In a Week 12 matchup during the 2002 season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Favre threw a pass that was intercepted (he had four picks that day in a 21-7 loss) by Bucs defensive back Brian Kelly. During Kelly's return, despite being nowhere near the action, Clifton was blindsided by legendary defensive tackle Warren Sapp, all 303 pounds of him, a hit that separated the ligaments in Clifton's pelvis and also caused him to suffer a strained back.

Clifton was on the ground for nearly 10 minutes before being carted off, and he was ultimately taken from Tampa to Green Bay in an air ambulance. Not only did his season come to an end, but he was bedridden for several weeks and needed a walker to get around once he was actually able to stand.

The NFL deemed Sapp's hit to be legal at the time, but the Competition Committee later changed the league's unnecessary roughness rules to make hits such as the one Clifton took illegal. So, in a way, not the way anyone would want, of course, he was partly responsible for a rule change.

Despite the severity of the injury, Clifton worked his way back to start the 2003 season, and in the eight-year stretch from 2003 to 2010, he only missed five games and finally got some of the credit he richly deserved, earning his first Pro Bowl selection in Favre's final year with the team in 2007 and then again blocking for Aaron Rodgers in 2010, with the latter season resulting in the Packers lifting the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in 14 years.

Back and hamstring injuries limited him to just six games in 2011, and after he was released in April 2012 after failing a physical, his career came to a close, as he never signed with another team. Clifton was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2016.

Other Green Bay Packers jersey honorees

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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Chad Clifton was an underrated blindside blocker for both Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers

Other Green Bay Packers jersey honorees

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