NFL Number 0s & 00s

In this episode of the Sports Jersey Dispatch Podcast we discuss the significant players who wore the jersey number 0 in the NFL's history as well as many more HOF Legendary stories. First heard on the Pigskin Dispatch in February 2021.

Here is where we start our journey of looking at the greatest players to wear a certain jersey number. A logical place to start is with the 0's and the 00's and so we we shall. There are not a lot of them because of the rules. In February  of 2020, the NCAA announced a rule allowing players to wear the No. 0 on their jersey for the 1st time ever, in an effort to cut down on teams having numerous players with repeat single-digit numbers, so we do not have a large pool of 0 or 00 to choose from in the college game.

At the Professional level in particular the NFL,  the number standardization rule of 1973 eliminated both 0 and 00 being legal numbers to be used. But prior to '73 we had some great zero players that were grandfathered in.

00 - Jim Otto played in the AFL and the NFL for the Oakland Raiders from 1960-74. Otto's career accolades are that he is a Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee as well as a 10-time All-Pro.

00 -Ken Burrough played wide receiver in the NFL for the New Orleans Saints & Houston Oilers wearing to double goose-egg the 1970 through 1981. His 00 jersey number was grandfathered for the balance of his career since he started wearing it in 1970.

0 - George Plimpton Wore it in the preseason with the Lions.

There are many others that wore the number as well prior to 1973 in the NFL but we could not find any that had substantial contributions to the game or did not wear the number for more than jus t a few games. If you see any that we have missed please email us at pigskindispatch@gmail.com and we will research the claim and possibly include it on our list!

Of course we also could not have done the above stat research without the assistance of Football-Reference.com and Stathead.com resources.