Best Green Bay Packers player to wear No. 80 holds a special spot in the Hall of Fame

Welcome once again to Lombardi Ave's series highlighting the greatest Green Bay Packers players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.

With the singles, teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s now all officially in the books, we're set to press on with the next batch, and we had an extremely tough call to make to kick things off here at No. 80, as two of the top wide receivers in franchise history donned this particular digit.

But if you've been following along on our journey, you know that one of the big rules I had coming into this endeavor was that no matter how difficult the decision, there would not be a single tie throughout the series.

That said, let's get things rolling by first looking at every player who's worn No. 80 for the Green & Gold over the years.

Gary Barnes, WR
Martellus Bennett, TE
Jack Clancy, WR
Dick Deschaine, P
Clint Didier, TE
Donald Driver, WR
Carl Elliott, E/DE
Ed Frutig, E
Jimmy Graham, TE
Jackie Harris, TE
Charles Jordan, WR
James Lofton, WR
Bob Long, FL
Derrick Mayes, WR
Steve Meilinger, E
Bo Melton, WR/CB
Frankie Neal, WR
Isaiah Neyor, WR
Justin Perillo, TE
Bucky Pope, WR
Fred Provo, HB
Breezy Reid, HB
Herm Rohrig, HB
Barry Smith, WR
Don Zimmerman, WR

It's a crying shame that we have to do this, but the runner-up slot here goes to the great Donald Driver, who spent his entire 14-year career in Green Bay, earning four Pro Bowl selections and winning a Super Bowl.

And in exactly half of those 14 seasons from 1999 to 2012, the seventh-round steal hit the 1,000-yard mark, with the first five coming on passes from Brett Favre and the final two coming on throws from Aaron Rodgers. When Driver finally hung up his cleats following the 2012 campaign, he'd tallied both the most receptions (743) and the most receiving yards (10,137) in Packers history.

At the time of his retirement, his 61 touchdown catches were also good for the third-most in franchise history, trailing only Don Hutson (99) and Sterling Sharpe (65). He's since been surpassed by Davante Adams (73) and Jordy Nelson (69), but sitting at No. 5 on that list is obviously still a great accomplishment.

So, you can see why we're disappointed not to be able to put Driver on the big list. But after careful consideration, we opted to roll with James Lofton.

James Lofton is the first Packers player to make the HOF without ties to Curly Lambeau or Vince Lombardi

A First-Team All-Pac-8 selection and a Second-Team All-American in 1977 at Stanford, where he also won the long jump at the 1978 NCAA Track and Field Championships, Lofton was taken by Green Bay in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft with the sixth overall selection.

It didn't take the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder long to establish himself as one of the top wideouts in the league, as he earned a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie after catching 46 passes for 818 yards with six touchdowns. And he only got better from there.

After a solid second season in 1979, the 1980 campaign started a six-year stretch in which Lofton earned six consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl, one First-Team All-Pro selection, and three Second-Team All-Pro nods. He tallied at least 1,153 yards in all but one of those seasons, and the only reason that happened is because the 1982 was shortened to nine games due to a players' strike. He also twice led the league in yards per reception, averaging 22.4 yards per grab in 1983 and 22.0 yards per catch in 1984.

In his nine seasons with the Packers before being traded to the then-Los Angeles Raiders ahead of the 1987 campaign, Lofton amassed 530 receptions for 9,656 yards and 49 touchdowns, adding another 245 yards and a score as a rusher on 31 carries.

Now, some of you may be wondering why we would pick Lofton when Driver obviously has the bigger numbers. But think about this. It took Driver 205 games to rack up the stats that he did, while Lofton needed just 136. And with all due respect to Lynn Dickey, who was a great quarterback on some not-so-great Green Bay teams, Lofton didn't have Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers throwing him the ball.

When you average things out, Lofton averaged 71.0 receiving yards per game during his run with the Packers, while Driver averaged 49.4. Had Lofton spent the entirety of his 16-year career in Titletown, he'd undoubtedly hold the records that Driver does now.

After all, over the final seven years of his career, which included runs with the Raiders, Bills, Rams, and Eagles, he tacked on another 234 receptions for 4,348 yards and 26 touchdowns. And when he finally retired following the 1993 season, his 14,004 career receiving yards stood as the most in NFL history and still rank among the top 15.

Throw in the fact that Lofton was the first Packers player ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame who didn't have a direct connection with either the Curly Lambeau era or the Vince Lombardi era, and we're feeling confident that we made the right choice in naming him the best ever to wear No. 80 in Green Bay.

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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James Lofton is the first Packers player to make the HOF without ties to Curly Lambeau or Vince Lombardi

Other Green Bay Packers jersey honorees

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