Welcome back once again to Lombardi Ave's 100-part series on the greatest Green Bay Packers players to wear every single jersey number from No. 0 to No. 99.
Now, while No. 17 may seem like one of the several slam-dunk entries that you'll see throughout this series, as this historic franchise simply has a long list of legends, this race was a lot closer than you might think.
You've likely already guessed the call here, but let's go ahead and look at every player who's worn the number for the Green & Gold over the years anyway.
- Davante Adams, WR
- Ramiz Ahmed, K
- Bullet Baker, B
- Don Bracken, P
- Mike Bucchianeri, G
- Anders Carlson, K
- Ed Cody, RB
- Boob Darling, C
- Red Dunn, QB/HB
- Lon Evans, G
- Hal Hansen, FB/E
- Craig Hentrich, P
- Tubby Howard, E/HB
- Cecil Isbell, QB/TB
- Ojay Larson, C
- Wes Leaper, E
- Cully Lidberg, FB
- Lamar McHan, QB
- Brandon McManus, K
- Merv Pregulman, C
- George Sauer Sr., B
- Carl Schuette, C/DB
- Jerry Tagge, QB
- Ray Wehba, E
- David Whitehurst, QB
- Mule Wilson, B
While some of these names may not look overly familiar to some, there are four members of the Packers Hall of Fame here who had to be considered. With all due respect to offensive linemen Boob Darling and Lon Evans, they were the first to be eliminated.
Red Dunn, whom you saw just a few entries ago, absolutely had to be considered for a second slot, as he was the Packers' first title-winning quarterback and helped the team to back-to-back-to-back NFL titles from 1929 to 1931. But as he only wore No. 17 during one of his five seasons in Titletown, also wearing Nos. 11, 15, and 16, we took him out of the running as well.
And finally, there was quarterback/halfback Cecil Isbell, who only played five seasons from 1938 to 1942 but certainly made the most of them, earning four Pro Bowl selections and three total All-Pro nods (one First Team, two Second Team) while also helping the Packers to a title in 1939.
In 1941, he set a new NFL record with 1,479 passing yards and then set it again in 1942 with 2,021, also setting a new mark with 24 touchdown passes. Having Don Hutson to throw to certainly made life easier, but that certainly doesn't take away from his accomplishments. Isbell was a strong runner as well, rushing for 1,522 yards and 10 touchdowns during his career. But following that '42 campaign, he was gone, as he retired to take an assistant coaching job at Purdue, where he was a two-time All-American.
Had Isbell continued to play, he'd likely be our pick here, but by the slightest of margins, we're rolling with a future member of the Packers Hall of Fame, Davante Adams.
Davante Adams set multiple records for the Green Bay Packers
After leading the country in receiving yards and touchdowns during his final year at Fresno State in 2013, Adams was taken by the Packers in the second round of the 2014 draft with the 53rd overall selection.
With Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb on the roster, it took Adams a few years to become Aaron Rodgers' top target, but once he became the guy, he was easily one of the top wide receivers in the entire NFL, earning five consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl from 2017 to 2021 and also receiving First-Team All-Pro nods in the final two seasons of that stretch. And those were monster campaigns.
Here's where Davante Adams ranks among the 20 best wide receivers in Packers history
In 2020, the California native set a new Packers single-season record with 115 receptions, surpassing the 112 recorded in 1993 by Sterling Sharpe. He'd come close to that mark in 2018, falling just one shy with 111. With those 115 catches, he went for 1,374 yards and an incredible 18 touchdowns, tying the TD record set by Sharpe in 1994. In the entire 100-plus-year history of the NFL, only two receivers have ever caught more touchdowns in a single season, those being Randy Moss (23, 2007) and Jerry Rice (22, 1987).
In 2021, Adams broke his own record by catching 123 passes and set another new Green Bay single-season record, as those grabs went for 1,553 yards, thus breaking the previous mark set by the aforementioned Jordy Nelson, who tallied 1,519 yards in 2014. Adams' 123 catches, by the way, are tied for the 15th-most by any player in NFL history.
But after that historic campaign, of course, Adams was gone. While he was looking for a new contract, the Packers instead placed the franchise tag on him for the 2022 season, which he said he wouldn't play under. As such, he was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, with whom he spent a little over two seasons before reuniting with Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets. But when Rodgers left Gang Green, so did Adams, signing with the Los Angeles Rams ahead of the 2025 season.
In his eight seasons with the Packers, Adams recorded 669 catches for 8,121 yards and 73 touchdowns, placing him in second, fourth, and second, respectively, on the all-time franchise leaderboards.
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
This list will be updated daily until all 100 entries are complete, so be sure to check back in with Lombardi Ave for updates.
Add us as a preferred source on Google