Today's list sees our first Hall of Famer in three days, as well as the third active player recognized in this project:
5. Alex Brown, DE 2002-2010 (Chicago, New Orleans); 337 career tackles
The list for 96, comparative to each other number to this point, had quite a small selection of players to chose from. Former Florida Gator Alex Brown spent eight seasons playing on the front line of a Bears defense that finished as one of the league's 10 best fewer times (2) than it ranked in the NFL's bottom half (3). The 2006 season was arguably Brown's best, as he recorded a career-high seven sacks for the NFC champion Bears. Alex Brown's most valuable contribution to NFL teams was his consistency; he started every game in seven of his nine seasons with Chicago and New Orleans.
4. Muhammad Wikerson, DL 2011-Present (NY Jets); One Pro Bowl; 41 career sacks
(Ron Antonelli/Getty)
One of the more unsung talents of today's NFL is Temple alum Muhammad Wilkerson, who has been a force on the Jets' defensive line since the very first game of his rookie season. Despite being named second-team All-Pro for four straight years (2012-15), Wilkerson's only Pro Bowl selection came at the end of a 2015 season in which he recorded 12 sacks. After an offseason nursing a leg injury and signing a five-year contract extension, the 2016 campaign was a disappointing follow-up for Wilkerson. His four and a half sacks and 33 solo tackles last year both ranked as second-worst season totals for the sixth-year pro.
3. Adalius Thomas, LB/DE 2000-2009 (Baltimore, New England); Two Pro Bowls; One First-Team All-Pro; 405 career tackles
(Paul Spinelli/Associated Press)
Throughout a decade in the league, Adalius Thomas played just six full seasons. However, when the sixth-round draft pick was on, he was on. He was a little-used role player on the 2000 Ravens squad that won Super Bowl XXXV, but by the time the 2006 season ended Thomas was a two-time Pro Bowler and one of the year's best linebackers. Adalius had exploded for five fumble recoveries - three for scores - and 20 sacks in 2005 and 2006, earning him a spot on the historic 2007 Patriots squad. Thomas recorded two sacks in the 2008 postseason en route to an eventual Super Bowl loss, but New England's 18-1 season would prove to be his last full NFL campaign. After two more years and a disappointing end to the 2009 season, Thomas retired.
2. Cortez Kennedy, DT 1990-1991; 1993-2000 (Seattle); Seven Pro Bowls; Two First-Team All Pro; NFL All-90s Team; Pro Football HOF class of 2012; 476 career tackles
Cortez Kennedy is the second of just four players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have spent his entire career with the Seattle Seahawks. The premiere defensive tackle in the NFL throughout the 1990s went to six straight Pro Bowls from 1991-1996, and eight all-star games in his 11-year career. Unfortunately for Kennedy's position on this list, during his 1992 Defensive Player of the Year campaign he wore the number 99. Still, it's his number 96 that is displayed on the Seahawks' ring of honor at CenturyLink Field. He played on just two Seahawks teams with winning records and lost the only playoff game he ever appeared in. Nevertheless his dominance anchoring the Seattle defensive line eventually earned Kennedy a coveted spot in the hallowed halls of Canton. Sadly, Kennedy passed away last month at the age of 48. 1. Clyde Simmons, DE 1986-2000 (Five teams, notably Philadelphia); Two Pro Bowls; Two First-Team All-Pro; 914 career tackles; 121.5 career sacks
(Stephen Dunn/Getty)
Western Carolina University's most prominent alumnus, Clyde Simmons was one of the most productive NFL defensive ends from 1988-1995. During that period, the Eagles and Cardinals star put up four seasons with double-digit sacks and three with over 100 tackles. Clyde's finest season came in 1992, when he actually out-preformed linemate and future Hall of Fame member Reggie White. Simmons recorded 19 sacks to White's 14 and 96 tackles against White's 81 to earn his second straight first team all-pro nod. The Eagles, after losing White to free agency in 1993, also parted ways with Simmons. After two years in Arizona - the latter being his final double-digit sack season - Simmons left for Jacksonville. Two seasons with the Jaguars, one in Cincinnati, and two Bears seasons later, Simmons retired in 10th place on the NFL all-time sack list. In the almost two decades that have since passed, his 121.5 career sacks have fallen to 20th overall in league history, but a 15-year career has cemented Simmons' place as one of the better defensive ends in football.
Four interior linemen highlight today's list; like yesterday, none of these 97s are in the Hall of Fame:
5. Kelly Gregg, DT 2002-2010 (Baltimore); 350 career tackles
(Doug Pensinger/Getty)
While wearing 97, Kelly Gregg played in 126 of a possible 128 games. Like Casey Hampton in Pittsburgh, Gregg was a run-plugging AFC North nose tackle throughout the 2000s. The six-foot, 310-pound Gregg had his best season in 2003, when he recorded three sacks and 63 tackles. Drafted in the sixth round by Cincinnati, the former Oklahoma Sooner had a slow start; spending his rookie year in Philadelphia wearing 94, 2000 out of football altogether, and 2001 as a backup defensive tackle wearing 73 for the Ravens. After his Ravens career ended, Gregg switched teams and numbers yet again, finishing his career as number 77 in Kansas City.
4. Geno Atkins, DT 2010-Present (Cincinnati); Five Pro Bowls; Two First-Team All-Pro; 52 career sacks
(Jared Wickerham/Getty)
Perhaps the premiere current defensive tackle in football, Geno Atkins has ended five of his past six seasons as a Pro Bowler. With the exception of an injury-shortened 2013 season, Atkins has started all but one game for the Bengals since 2011. 2012 was the best season to date for the Georgia alum; Atkins recorded 12.5 sacks and forced four fumbles en route to his first all-pro recognition. Atkins shows no signs of slowing down; his 2016 campaign ended with the third-best single-season sack total, nine, of his young career. Geno is in the last year of his current contract with the Bengals; a monster season may be in store for the 29-year-old lineman.
3. Simeon Rice, DE 1997-2007 (Arizona, Tampa Bay, Denver); Three Pro Bowls; One First-Team All-Pro; 108.5 career sacks
(Greg Trott/Associated Press)
1996 Defensive Rookie of the Year Simeon Rice changed his number from 79 to 97 prior to his sophomore campaign with the Cardinals. His best season with the Bird Gang came in 1999, when he earned his first Pro Bowl berth with a career-best 16.5 sacks. In 2001, he moved to Tampa Bay; Rice made an immediate impact with five straight double-digit sack seasons. In 2002, Rice helped the Bucs win their first (and to this time, only) Super Bowl, recording 15.5 sacks and earning his lone first-team all-pro selection. After starting 2007 in Denver, Rice finished his career wearing 78 in Indianapolis.
2. Bryant Young, DT 1994-2007 (San Francisco); Four Pro Bowls; One First-Team All-Pro; 89.5 career sacks
Bryant Young was a rookie on the last of the five 49ers championship teams; his career in San Francisco spanned 14 seasons. Throughout that time Young missed an average of about one game per season, playing in 208 out of a possible 224 regular season contests. The Notre Dame product's best season came in 1996, when Young made 61 tackles, 11.5 sacks and scored a league-high two safeties. Young retired as the 49ers' sack leader in 2007, a title that he still holds a decade later.
1. La'Roi Glover, DT 1996-2008 (New Orleans, Dallas, Rams); Six Pro Bowls; One First-Team All-Pro; 83.5 career sacks
(Dilip Vishwanat/Getty)
One of the most dependable interior defensive linemen of the '00s, La'Roi Glover went 11 straight seasons without missing a game. Glover played significant portions of his career with both the Saints and Cowboys, making multiple Pro Bowl appearances as a member of each team. Glover's production was highest in New Orleans; 50 of his 83.5 sacks and 219 of his 430 tackles wearing 97 came in his six years with the Saints. Glover finished his career with a three-year stint in St. Louis, cementing his position as the best player ever to wear 97.
Today's list lacks the star power of the 99s; unlike yesterday's 3 Hall of Famers, none of these players has earned a gold jacket:
5. John Henderson, DT
2002-2009 (Jacksonville); Two Pro Bowls; 329 career tackles
(Rick Stewart/Getty)
Hailed as the best defensive line prospect to come out of the University of Tennessee since Reggie White, John Henderson struggled to live up to his potential as a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars. While he only missed four games in his eight-year career wearing 98, Henderson made just two Pro Bowls. He recorded a career-high 62 tackles the first time he earned an all-star invitation in 2004 and was a second team all-pro when he made his second Pro Bowl in 2006. Henderson retired from football after two seasons with the Raiders, during which he wore the number 79.
4. Greg Ellis, DE/LB
1998-2008 (Dallas); One Pro Bowl; 77 career sacks
(Ronald Martinez/Getty)
Like Henderson, Ellis was a top-ten draft pick who failed fully to live up to expectations. The former North Carolina Tar Heel did spend a decade wearing a star on his helmet and 98 on his chest, but never recorded more than 50 tackles than a season and hit double-digit sacks just once. 2007 was Ellis' lone Pro Bowl season; after converting to linebacker in 2006 he reached the all star game thanks to his 12.5 sacks, which he made in just 13 games. Also like Henderson, Ellis spent the last year of his career wearing a different number - this time 99 - in Oakland.
3. Robert Mathis, DE/LB
2003-2016 (Indianapolis); Five Pro Bowls; One First-Team All Pro; 123 career sacks
Robert Mathis spent much of his career opposite of - and often overshadowed by - future Hall of Famer Dwight Freeney. Mathis started all 16 games in only three of his 14 seasons with the Colts, and missed the entire 2014 season with a torn Achilles tendon. Despite frequent injury struggles, however, Mathis put together a respectable career in Indy. His first Pro Bowl season didn't come until his sixth year in the league, but he made the Pro Bowl five out of six seasons from 2008-2013. Mathis' best season came in 2013, when he was named first team All-Pro with a career-high 19.5 sacks. Mathis retired at the end of last season as one of just two players still on the Colts roster to have been a member of the Super Bowl XLI championship team.
2. Casey Hampton, DT
2001-2012 (Pittsburgh); Five Pro Bowls; 208 career tackles
(Greg Bartram/US PRESSWIRE)
Casey Hampton will never make a list of the most dominant Pittsburgh defensive linemen of all time, and barely cracks the list of most important members of the 2000s Steelers. However, Hampton was absolutely one of the best pure nose tackles to have played the game to this point in the 21st century. He anchored a Pittsburgh defense that was among the tops in the league throughout his time in black and yellow and was a key member of both the 2005 and 2008 Super Bowl championship teams. Hampton spent the entirety of his 12-year career with the Steelers.
1. Jessie Armstead, LB
1993-2003 (NY Giants, Washington); Five Pro Bowls; One First-Team All Pro; 747 career tackles
Jessie Armstead did not make many highlight reels for explosive quarterback sacks, but he was one of the most dependable tacklers of the 1990s. Armstead recorded 75 tackles or more in six of his 11 NFL seasons, including a 101-tackle 1997 campaign in which he was honored as a member of the All-Pro team. The dependable outside linebacker never missed a game in 176 possible contests, and from the time he took on a full-time starting role with the Giants in 1996 until his final season Armstead only missed one start.
The countdown begins at 99. Five of the best defensive linemen to play the game grace today's list:
5. Mark Gastineau, DE 1979-1988 (NY Jets); Five Pro Bowls; Three First-Team All-Pro; 74 career sacks*, including season-high 19 in 1983 and 22 in 1984
Mark Gastineau was one of the most disruptive edge rushers of the mid-80s and was no doubt the most outspoken defensive end during that time as well. While in the process of recording 41 sacks over just two seasons, Gastineau earned recognition throughout the league - and more than a few penalties - for his often flamboyant celebrations. Earlier this year, the 60-year-old Gastineau announced his being diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia.
4. J.J. Watt, DE 2011-Pres (Houston); Four Pro Bowls; Four First-Team All-Pro; Three-time Defensive POY; 76 career sacks
(Scott Halleran/Getty)
Many experts saw former Wisconsin Badger J.J. Watt as a stretch for the Texans to draft 11th overall in 2011. What has followed for the man I affectionately call "Watt-a-stud" has been nothing less than Herculean. After a mediocre freshman campaign, Watt burst onto the scene in 2012 with a league-high 20.5 sacks and his first of three Defensive Player of the Year honors. He came in second in league MVP voting in 2014 despite winning the Bert Bell Award as the NFL's player of the year. Injuries beset Watt throughout the 2016 season, but if he is able to bounce back and put together another stellar half-decade of stats his bust in Canton will be all but guaranteed.
3. Dan Hampton, DL 1979-1990 (Chicago); Four Pro Bowls; One First-Team All-Pro; NFL All-80s Team; Pro Football HOF class of 2002; 57 career sacks*
Former Arkansas Razorback Dan Hampton played multiple positions on the front line of Chicago's famed 46 defense throughout his 12-year career. His finest season came in 1984, when Hampton recorded 11.5 sacks en route to his only first-team all-pro selection. Hampton was a significant contributor to the Bears' historic 1985 defense and championship ring. While he was never tops among his peers in any given season, Hampton's longevity and high quality of play well into the latter half of the 1980s eventually earned the lineman a coveted spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2. Jason Taylor, DE/LB 1997-2007, 2009-2011 (Miami, NY Jets); Six Pro Bowls; Two First-Team All Pro; 2006 Defensive POY; Pro Football HOF class of 2017; 136 career sacks
One of two players to reach the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility this year, Jason Taylor was one of the softer-spoken defensive stars of the last decade. Among his more impressive stats, the 2007 NFL Man of the Year recorded a league-high 18.5 sacks in 2003 and recorded two interceptions, both returned for scores, in his 2006 DPOY campaign. After a forgettable 2008 season in Washington, which didn't count for this list anyway since he wore 55 that year, Taylor returned to Miami; in 2009 he was a starting linebacker in 15 games for the Dolphins. 1. Warren Sapp, DT 1995-2007 (Tampa Bay, Oakland); Seven Pro Bowls; Four First-Team All-Pro; 1999 Defensive POY; NFL All-00s Team; Pro Football HOF class of 2013; 96.5 career sacks
(Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel)
Warren Sapp was one of the NFL's biggest personalities during his 13-year career with the Bucs and Raiders; he was also the league's premiere interior lineman at the turn of the century. All seven of Sapp's Pro Bowl appearances were consecutive, coming from 1997-2003. Sapp's last all-pro season helped propel Tampa to victory in Super Bowl XXXVII. Sapp never made a Pro Bowl in the Bay Area, but started 42 of 48 possible games in silver and black. His best season as a Raider came in 2006, when the former Miami Hurricane recorded 10 sacks. Sapp was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2013.
*Sacks did not become an official NFL stat until 1982.
The 2017 NFL season will kickoff on Thursday, September 7, exactly 100 days from today. To help count down to the action, I am endeavoring to create a list of the top 5 players to ever wear each jersey number; I will include lists each day, from 99 to 1.* Check back each day from now until September for a new list!
Regrettably, no NFL mascots made it into the countdown. (Christian Petersen/Getty)
*Each list will be based on contributions from players who wore each jersey number, but only while each player wore said number. For example, were these lists based on basketball players Kobe Bryant would likely hold a spot in both the 24 and 8 groups; however, Bryant's accomplishments while wearing number 24 would not count toward his position on the number 8 list and vice versa.
