1952 & 1973 jersey number standardization

[Jay Z]

1973
1-19—kickers and QBs
20-49—RBs and DBs
50-59—C and LB
60-79—OL and DL
80-89—WR and TE

1979
90-99—DL

then the 80s got relaxed
for LBers


Players who had numbers outside new rules were grandfathered in
like John Hadl, Harold Carmichael, etc

There were many receivers who had numbers 1-49, mostly out of necessity due to the way the positions evolved.

I suppose some of the might have been considered "flankers" or former halfbacks from the true T formation, and I suppose in the early 1960s some of them had indeed been that. But by 1967 or so, an active roster might look something like this:

5 players 0-19 (3 QB, 2 specialists) 25% taken
11 players 20-49 (5 RB and 6 DB) 28% taken
6 players 50-59 (2 C and 4 LB) 60% taken
3 players 60-69 (3 OG) 30% taken
6 players 70-79 (3 OT and 3 DT) 60% taken
9 players 80-89 (4 WR, 2 TE, 3 DE) 90% taken
0 players 90-99 - 0% taken

With preseason rosters, the 80s were a nightmare, requiring players to switch numbers every year after the final trades or cuts. Easy to let receivers have a number or two in the 0-49 range, plenty available there.

[Jay Z]

1973
1-19—kickers and QBs
20-49—RBs and DBs
50-59—C and LB
60-79—OL and DL
80-89—WR and TE

1979
90-99—DL

then the 80s got relaxed
for LBers


Players who had numbers outside new rules were grandfathered in
like John Hadl, Harold Carmichael, etc

Select players were allowed to wear numbers in the 90s. In 1977 John Bunting, Larry Brooks, and Wilbur Young all were in the 90s. Pro Football Reference currently lists WR Reggie Craig with the Browns as wearing #90, but that is a mistake.

One other player, the Packers' Ezra Johnson, wore #90. For 1978 he switched to #78. In 1979 the Packers made several number switches to "conform with the new guidelines of the NFL." Three linebackers switched from numbers in the 60s to the 50s. Two wide receivers took numbers in the 80s. And Ezra Johnson took #90 again, which he kept the rest of his career. Perhaps Ezra's switch was just lumped in with the other announcements, but I don't understand why he would have been "required" to switch off #78, or why he switched to that number in the first place.

[Gary Najman]

1973
1-19—kickers and QBs
20-49—RBs and DBs
50-59—C and LB
60-79—OL and DL
80-89—WR and TE

1979
90-99—DL

then the 80s got relaxed
for LBers


Players who had numbers outside new rules were grandfathered in
like John Hadl, Harold Carmichael, etc

Select players were allowed to wear numbers in the 90s. In 1977 John Bunting, Larry Brooks, and Wilbur Young all were in the 90s. Pro Football Reference currently lists WR Reggie Craig with the Browns as wearing #90, but that is a mistake.

One other player, the Packers' Ezra Johnson, wore #90. For 1978 he switched to #78. In 1979 the Packers made several number switches to "conform with the new guidelines of the NFL." Three linebackers switched from numbers in the 60s to the 50s. Two wide receivers took numbers in the 80s. And Ezra Johnson took #90 again, which he kept the rest of his career. Perhaps Ezra's switch was just lumped in with the other announcements, but I don't understand why he would have been "required" to switch off #78, or why he switched to that number in the first place.

I remember that Packer LBs John Anderson wore #60 and Mike Douglass wore #65 as rookies in 1978. Also WR Aundra Thompson wore #43.

[Throwin_Samoan]

A UPI story on the NFL owners meeting, dated Jan. 20, 1952, said 'By unanimous consent, the league decided to number players according to their positions, excepting old established stars like Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins, Bob Waterfield of the Los Angeles Rams and Otto Graham of the Cleveland Browns whose uniform numbers have become traditional. Under the new arrangement quarterbacks will be numbered from 11 to 19, halfbacks in the 20's and 40's, fullbacks in the 30's, centers in the 50's, guards in the 60's, tackles in the 70's and ends in the 80's.' (Another UPI story from three days prior said the vote was 11-1.)

By the time the Browns opened camp on Aug. 4, 1952, Graham had switched to #14, as this photo that ran in papers the next day shows. If there was a reason he chose that number, I have yet to find it. There being no Uni-Watch then, coverage of such things was not deemed to be super important.

[Throwin_Samoan]

One other player, the Packers' Ezra Johnson, wore #90. For 1978 he switched to #78. In 1979 the Packers made several number switches to "conform with the new guidelines of the NFL." Three linebackers switched from numbers in the 60s to the 50s. Two wide receivers took numbers in the 80s. And Ezra Johnson took #90 again, which he kept the rest of his career. Perhaps Ezra's switch was just lumped in with the other announcements, but I don't understand why he would have been "required" to switch off #78, or why he switched to that number in the first place.

Sheboygan Press story, May 24, 1979: 'Six other Packers also will be wearing new numbers in 1979, following re-affirmation of the National Football League's positional numbering system...a ruling which also included granting defensive linemen permission to wear 90s numbers...As a result of the latter, Ezra Johnson has forsaken 78 for his old college number 90.'

Get this: Johnson apparently switched from 90 to 78 during the 1978 season. The rosters below from the Green Bay Press-Gazette are from Oct. 16 (left) and Oct. 23 (right). He's listed as number 90 in the former, number 78 in the latter.

Rosters

packer_rosters1977.jpg (75.33 KiB) Viewed 23442 times

The game book from the 10/16 game is no help, as it doesn't list him in the lineup at all for Green Bay, even though newspaper accounts of the game report that he blocked a field goal before halftime. One page of the mostly illegible game book seems to show what should be "Johnson" in the defensive statistics with a tick in the "Blocked FG/Punt" category, but the number can't be made out. By the next game (10/23 at Tampa Bay), Johnson is clearly listed as number 78 in the substitutes. (See the game book images below.)

packer_gamebooks1977.jpg (41.06 KiB) Viewed 23442 times

I have found no published reason for the mid-season switch. Likely the league realized he was out of compliance, made him switch, then relaxed the restriction the next year and he went back. (There have been cases of the league not realizing a player was wearing an out-of-regulation number early in the season before. The Bucs' Isaac Hagins supposedly wore #1 for the franchise's first game in 1976, but he was lost for the season with an injury in that game. Though the game book lists him as wearing 81 in that game.)

So there you go.

[Gary Najman]

One other player, the Packers' Ezra Johnson, wore #90. For 1978 he switched to #78. In 1979 the Packers made several number switches to "conform with the new guidelines of the NFL." Three linebackers switched from numbers in the 60s to the 50s. Two wide receivers took numbers in the 80s. And Ezra Johnson took #90 again, which he kept the rest of his career. Perhaps Ezra's switch was just lumped in with the other announcements, but I don't understand why he would have been "required" to switch off #78, or why he switched to that number in the first place.

Sheboygan Press story, May 24, 1979: 'Six other Packers also will be wearing new numbers in 1979, following re-affirmation of the National Football League's positional numbering system...a ruling which also included granting defensive linemen permission to wear 90s numbers...As a result of the latter, Ezra Johnson has forsaken 78 for his old college number 90.'

Get this: Johnson apparently switched from 90 to 78 during the 1978 season. The rosters below from the Green Bay Press-Gazette are from Oct. 16 (left) and Oct. 23 (right). He's listed as number 90 in the former, number 78 in the latter.

packer_rosters1977.jpg

The game book from the 10/16 game is no help, as it doesn't list him in the lineup at all for Green Bay, even though newspaper accounts of the game report that he blocked a field goal before halftime. One page of the mostly illegible game book seems to show what should be "Johnson" in the defensive statistics with a tick in the "Blocked FG/Punt" category, but the number can't be made out. By the next game (10/23 at Tampa Bay), Johnson is clearly listed as number 78 in the substitutes. (See the game book images below.)

packer_gamebooks1977.jpg

I have found no published reason for the mid-season switch. Likely the league realized he was out of compliance, made him switch, then relaxed the restriction the next year and he went back. (There have been cases of the league not realizing a player was wearing an out-of-regulation number early in the season before. The Bucs' Isaac Hagins supposedly wore #1 for the franchise's first game in 1976, but he was lost for the season with an injury in that game. Though the game book lists him as wearing 81 in that game.)

So there you go.

In my first game I attended (Tampa Bay at Houston, 1983 preseason) 2nd-years Bucs KR Michael Morton also wore #1 (IIRC he wore for all of 1982 and 1983, then he switched to #20 for 1984).

Browns RB-KR Dino Hall also wore #1 when he entered the NFL in 1979, but then switched to #26 during the season.

Also in 1979, the Giants rookie DT Phil Tabor wore #80, he was the last defensive lineman who entered the NFL with a number in the 80s.

In 1991 and 1992 Browns WR Michael Jackson wore #1, then switched to #81, which he kept when the team moved to Baltimore.

[Jay Z]

Get this: Johnson apparently switched from 90 to 78 during the 1978 season. The rosters below from the Green Bay Press-Gazette are from Oct. 16 (left) and Oct. 23 (right). He's listed as number 90 in the former, number 78 in the latter.

He didn't. Those newspaper rosters aren't always accurate. The one that lists Johnson with #78 also lists several players that were not on the 1978 Packers.

Johnson wore #78 in the Packers' second game of the season against the Saints.

[Throwin_Samoan]

He didn't. Those newspaper rosters aren't always accurate. The one that lists Johnson with #78 also lists several players that were not on the 1978 Packers.

Johnson wore #78 in the Packers' second game of the season against the Saints.

And the 1977 Packer highlight film shows him wearing #78 in week four against Cincinnati. Withdrawn. (Though the Saints game was the Packers' season opener, not their second game.)

better_than_ezra.jpg (99.95 KiB) Viewed 23154 times

[Oszuscik]

He didn't. Those newspaper rosters aren't always accurate. The one that lists Johnson with #78 also lists several players that were not on the 1978 Packers.

Johnson wore #78 in the Packers' second game of the season against the Saints.

And the 1977 Packer highlight film shows him wearing #78 in week four against Cincinnati. Withdrawn. (Though the Saints game was the Packers' season opener, not their second game.)

better_than_ezra.jpg

Good catch! The 1977 Packers highlight film shows footage of Johnson against the Bengals, Lions, Redskins... all while wearing #78. In the Packers gamebooks from 1977, when the numbers were actually listed, he's #78. In the team photo from 1977, he's #78. HOWEVER, it looks like during training camp and pre-season Johnson wore #90, according to the Packers media guide. Perhaps he carried that number a couple games into the regular season before the league came down on the Packers and made them assign him a compliant jersey number?

The rosters screenshots above look like they're from the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Those are good sources, but as far as roster changes and things like that those printed rosters seemed to typically lag by a week or two.

[JohnTurney]

Select players were allowed to wear numbers in the 90s. In 1977 John Bunting, Larry Brooks, and Wilbur Young all were in the 90s.

Those three were grandfathered in from pre-1973, so the 1973 rules didn't apply. New guys entering the NFL were not allowed to wear
numbers in the 90s from 1973-78.

SOme guys tried to go outside rules (Bubba Baker wore #80 for a few weeks but had to change to 60--but league kept eye on that)