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Number Crunching: #00 – #0
by Chris Brophy
26/3/2009
Having taken many trips back in time already in the Diner’s Tardis – whether it is to recall an individual or to visit a certain point in time we felt it was time to spice up the menu and go for a historical angle that can provide long term interest and visit many points within the same course. So, it is with great pleasure that Football Diner offers its version of a Chinese takeaway menu as we go through player jersey numbers from 00 all the way to 99.
During this roll call of the NFL greats at each number, we will attempt to pick the best at each number (and there are some tough calls, believe me!), give out some mentions to others who have represented well and also see if there are any stories or coincidences of interest. This originally started out as a search for the best numbers in NFL history and hopefully at the end (which promises to be a long way away) we may yet revisit that idea. As it is, sometimes we will cover several numbers but some numbers will require a whole piece to themselves.
For now though, let us make a start. For our first instalment we begin with nothing. Well actually, we begin with double nothing and find our way forward to, er, nothing!
 FD’s All Time #00: Jim Otto, Center (Oakland Raiders)
A pretty easy one to start but before we recall Otto, let it be noted that since 1973, the numbers 0 and 00 have been discontinued by the NFL so finding guys with these unusual numbers was easy in some ways but harder in others.
As it is, think of 00 and Jim Otto instantly springs to mind. The center position has a glamorous history within Raider folklore and it will be revisited at some later point in this project I’m sure but it all started in 1960 with Jim Otto. By the time he had finished in 1974 Otto was still the only center the Raiders had ever had and in the midst of his reign at the pivot he made 13 all star games and is one of only 20 players to play through the entire history ten year history of the AFL. He appeared in 308 games as a Raider.
Otto made it to the Hall Of Fame in 1980 and his post football career has shown him to be as tough off the field as he was on it. With many surgeries to his injured back and knees Otto has been under the knife more times than I’m sure he cares to remember. He has also overcome a cancer scare and the amputation of a leg in 2007. Despite all the pain and injury problems Otto is on record as saying he has no regrets.
There is no doubt Otto is one of the all time greats, but is he better known as a Hall Of Fame center or as a football player who was unusual in that he wore 00? You would hope it is the former but if I’m honest, I think of Otto and 00 comes to mind first.
#00 Honourable Mentions: Ken Burrough, Wide Receiver (New Orleans Saints, Houston Oilers)
A former first round pick (10th overall) by the Saints, Burrough had a long career with the Oilers making two pro bowls (’75 and ’77) and amassing 421 career receptions with 49TD’s.
 FD’s All Time #0: Johnny Olszewski, Fullback (Chicago Cardinals, Washington Redskins, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos)
This proved to be an all together much trickier number to find candidates for and I dare say in the older days of the NFL they are some undiscovered (by myself anyway) gems for 0 but as it is I could only manage to find two and our honourable mention (more below) is as weak a pick as we may see in this whole project.
Anyway, Johnny Olszewski is a two time pro bowl runner who seen action for a few different teams. With the Cardinals, he teamed up in the backfield with Hall Of Famers Charlie Trippi and Ollie Matson. In 1956 he enjoyed a career year as he rushed for just under 600 yards. He would break the half century mark again in his first year as a Redskin (1958) when he went for 505 yards that season.
Olszewski is someone I had never heard of before this search of jersey numbers began but to have worn a jersey number that can now never be worn and feature in an offensive backfield with two Hall Of Famers certainly mans he has his niche in NFL history.
Honourable Mention: George Plimpton, Quarterback (Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears)
Plimpton was not a professional football player but a writer/journalist and actor who took a shot at football for the experience in order to write a book. Wearing #0 he took a few snaps in a scrimmage for the Lions in 1963 after attending their pre-season training. He would turn these experiences into a book called Paper Lion (also adapted into a film). He would then join the Colts in camp in 1972 and take some snaps in the pre-season game against ironically the Lions.
Plimpton it seems was a writer who craved the actual experience of what he was to write about. He also trained as a goalie for ice hockey’s Boston Bruins, sparred with boxers Sugar Ray Robinson and Archie Moore, tried his hand on the pro golf tour and pitched in a baseball all-star game.
I guess it’s a cheat to use him in this list but regardless, his story of how he got his stories is worth of the infamous and now unused #0.
Learn More about past NFL greats in our History Archive
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