Who wore number 8 in NFL

Our team continues to introduce you to players who wore number 8 in their NFL career in various years. For a long time, it was accessible only to offensive players like quarterbacks or wide receivers, but since 2022, the league has permitted defensive players to choose it too. However, there are no references about the eligibility of the defenders to catch the ball because the number 8 belongs to the eligible range.

Two teams removed this number from the inner circuit to honor the famous players. These are Arizona Cardinals who removed number 8 of Larry Wilson. His impact was so great that the Cardinals retired his jersey number before the player finished his career. San Francisco 49ers removed number 8 ten years after Steve Young retired from playing football. Both performers are Hall of Fame inductees.

Thus, Steve Young opens our rating with AV 168 points. This quarterback played in two teams on the opposite coasts. He started his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1985, but two years later, he moved to San Francisco, where he played till retirement in 1999. The player showed all his potential there, scoring 241 TDs, including 20 in the playoffs. He led the 49ers to three titles. In Super Bowl XXIX society considered him as MVP of the season. The player played in 8 Pro Bowls and received several Player of the year awards. All these achievements opened him on the road to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The 49ers removed the number 8 to remember his achievements.

Larry Wilson from St. Louis Cardinals comes next in our list. He played in the position of safety and was the first to join the team after the introduction of the AV system. The league environment called him to the Pro Bowl 8 times per the career. Good correvelance with his number 8 in the team. Every Pro Bowl from 1965 to 1970 could be impossible without him. However, the player didn’t participate in the playoffs. But AV 121 and its great impact allowed him to remove his number from the team’s circuit and be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and symbolic team of the 1960s and 1970s.

The third player on our list is Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman. He’s a Super Bowl XXVII MVP. The player defended the colours of the Dallas Cowboys from 1989 to 2000. Almost every his season ended in playoffs. The performer led the team to the Super Bowl trice. His playoff average yardage per game was higher than regular – 240.6 vs. 199.6 yards. Aikman participated in 15 comebacks and 40 game-winning drives. That factor was decisive in why the committee invited him to the Pro Bowl 6 times consecutively. Aikman was the last to wear this number in the Cowboys, but the team didn’t officially retire it.

Mark Brunell gained 116 AV points and fourth place in this category. He spent most of his career in Jacksonville because he wasn’t so good with the Packers in his rookie 1994 season. The trade was logical because nobody wanted to see the player who passes 49 yards per game. But at the same time, Green Bay’s decision was very quick because the player demonstrated his best football in JAX – 214 yards per game on average. He scored at least 10 touchdowns per season. His performance in Washington declined, but he appeared in most of the team’s games. But New Orleans and New York Jets, which were the last two teams in his career, considered him not a starter, so he sat at the bench most of the time—his golden years left in the Jaguars.

According to the Redskins’ tradition, the rookie quarterback Kirk Cousins received number 12 in 2012. Two years later, he competed under jersey number 8, which follows till nowadays when he defends the Vikings colours. He’s 6 in the list of players in most game streaks with at least one passing touchdown with 39 games (2020-2022). Interestingly, his TD performance peaked in the 2020 season when he released 35 pick-sixs. A great achievement in NFL history. Unfortunately, his career is at sunset, so the chances he repeats or improves the result are minor.

Sean Clifford started his professional career with the Green Bay Packers in 2023, where he got number 8. His average number of games at the college level was 10. He didn’t start only in 2018; the next seasons before graduation were rich on starts. However, the rookie played only 2 games for the new team in his first season. I expect he will demonstrate the best qualities later.

Pittsburgh Steelers picked the quarterback Kenny Pickett in round 1 of the 2022 NFL draft. The player responded with 179 yards per game and 13 touchdowns in two seasons. Pickett led the team to 6 comebacks and 7 game-winning drives. But it wasn’t enough to arrive at the playoff. However, it’s only the start of the professional career and the best times are ahead. In college, he gained 236,9 yards on average per game. He scored 81 touchdowns in 52 games.
The final person in our rating of rookies is Brian Robinson Junior, who joined Washington Commanders in 2022. The running back immediately received number 8 and continues to wear it. With Commanders, he doubled the receiving average yardage compared with Alabama – he gained 15 receiving yards per game, while in the college, he gained only 7 on average.

Clyde Zoia from the Chicago Cardinals was the first player who wore number 8 in NFL history. He performed as a guard. Zoia participated in 8 games per season. He played 34 games with 25 starts in his career.

The placekicker Ben Agajanian was a historical person. The player competed in three recognized professional leagues. He started his career in 1945 with the Philadelphia Eagles, but then he moved to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the same season. The player wore number 8 in the New York Giants when his career peaked. Agajanian kicked 20+ field goals and 30+ extra points with a high conversion rate of 40% and more for FGs and 100% of XPA. He played 19 seasons in 10 different teams and booted field goals there. The player won two NFL titles with the Giants in 1956 and the Green Bay Packers in 1961.

Kyle Allen wore his number 8 during the Washington campaign in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. However, his performance was poor and twice worse than in Texans – only 121 yards per game instead of 239 in Carolina and 208 in Houston.