Five Miami football alums best to wear their number in NFL History

Nine Miami football alums are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Hurricanes have been developed hundreds of players who have had long careers in the NFL. Several of those players were among the best ever.

The Athletic named five Miami Hurricanes the best player ever to wear their number in NFL history. Breaking down the numbers of NFL greats is a monumental task. When The Athletic analyzed the best players in college football, three former Miami football players were named the best ever to wear their number.

Safety Sean Taylor’s number 26, linebacker Ray Lewis at number 52 and defensive tackle Warren Sapp who wore 76 were all selected. The college list had 99 players from 1-99. The NFL list has 100 players from 00-99 which was impacted with a Miami angle.

In addition to the five Hurricanes anointed the best ever to wear their number in NFL history, eight Miami football alums were named honorable mention. That includes Sapp. Sapp wore number 99 in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders but was edged out by current Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald.

The other Miami players to be named honorable mention are quarterbacks Jim Kelly and Bernie Kosar, safety Ed Reed, running backs Frank Gore and Edgerrin James wide receiver Michael Irvin and linebacker Jessie Armstead. The competition is fierce, Sapp, Kelly, Reed, James and Irvin are Hall of Famers and Gore will be.

The list begins with the first Miami football alum inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Jim Otto played center and LB at Miami, played in 210 consecutive games in the AFL and NFL and was one of four centers named to the NFL 100 year all-time team. The Athletic also summarized Otto’s great career.

"00: Jim OttoThe Oakland Raiders’ only starting center from 1960 through 1974 heads a short list of players to wear No. 00 over the years. Otto was named to 12 Pro Bowls and 10 All-Pro teams on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. — Mike Sando"

Devin Hester is the most exciting return man in NFL history. After four punt return TDs and two kickoff return TDs in college, Hester continued to be a player opponents had to game plan for on special teams. As a rookie with the Chicago Bears in 2006 Hester led the NFL with 47 punt returns for 600 yards and three TDs.

"23: Devin HesterHester might be the greatest return specialist. His 14 touchdowns on punt returns rank first, four more than runner-up Eric Metcalf. He ranks tied for fifth with five touchdowns on kickoff returns, which became harder to produce as touchbacks proliferated over the second half of Hester’s career. — Sando"

Ray Lewis is the only Miami football alum to be acclaimed as the best player to ever wear his number in college and the NFL. Lewis made number 52 iconic at Miami. Lewis is fifth in school history with 388 tackles and holds the Hurricanes record for tackles in a season with 160 in 1993 and is second with 152 in 1994.

"52: Ray LewisConsidered the best sideline-to-sideline middle linebacker ever, Lewis was a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, two-time defensive MVP and 13-time Pro Bowler. — Dan Pompei"

Ted Hendricks is a former teammate of Otto with the Raiders and was the second former Hurricanes player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after Otto. He was an aberration of a player at 6’7 who moved well and got into opponents’ offensive backfields with ease.

Hendricks modernized the position of linebacker playing a hybrid LB/defensive end. Sacks did not become an official stat until 1982 which was the penultimate season of Hendrick’s career. His numbers would have been elite. Hendricks was named NFL all-1970s and all-1980s despite retiring after the 1983 season.

"83: Ted HendricksDuring his time with the Baltimore Colts, Packers and Raiders, Hendricks played in 215 consecutive games. The 6-foot-7 linebacker was an eight-time Pro Bowler and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. — Sheil Kapadia"

The late Cortez Kennedy was the third pick of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks before going on to a Hall of Fame career. After a stellar career with the Miami Hurricanes in college, the Arkansas native was named first-team All-Pro three times and first-team All-1990s ahead of Sapp.

"96: Cortez KennedyThe 58 career sacks don’t do Kennedy justice. He was a Seahawks legend, starting 153 games in 11 years and earning eight Pro Bowl nods. — Kapadia"

The elite level the past Miami Hurricanes have produced in the NFL has not been the same for about the past decade. The retirements of Reed and Lewis were the end of an era. Miami is still sending multiple players to the NFL every season, but not the pro-bowl and all-pro players they used to.