Fired up: Readers react to list of top athletes by jersey number
What started as a discussion on the anniversary of teams wearing numbered jerseys soon turned into a lively debate.
Talk turned to jersey numbers and the best athletes to wear specific numbers. We decided to go big and choose the top athletes -- across all sports -- to wear numbers from 00 to 99.
It was a research-intense project. We looked through Hall of Fame lists, studied old photos, researched famous nicknames -- every place we could find a who's who of sports, we dug deep. Several staff members weighed in, offering suggestions on who was the first to a certain accomplishment, who excelled the longest, who made the most impact.
Putting folks on the list and taking some off was intense, difficult and fun.
There were big moments to consider, like No. 8 Cal Ripken's streak or No. 12 Joe Namath's guarantee. Some greats were obvious: No. 9 Ted Williams, No. 23 Michael Jordan and the Great One, No. 99 Wayne Gretzky.
And who could forget No. 21 Deion Sanders strutting down the sideline after an interception?
Me, apparently.
I went through what seemed like thousands of athletes, picked out a few hundred, went over the list countless times ... and still left off some big names.
So on Twitter, @autryalexis let me know. "You skipped Deion? #21". Yep, I did, but I've added him.
Just like I added soccer great Lionel Messi, and former Jordan sidekick Scottie Pippen. And a couple of my favorite basketball players, Patrick Ewing and Bernard King.
As @tahske pointed out, "are Patrick Ewing and Scottie Pippen not jersey #33 worthy?? But Jose Canseco???" Sigh. You're right. Can't believe I forgot Ewing. I even owned a pair of Ewing adidas in the mid-'80s. One of my favorite all-time basketball games was the 1982 NCAA title game when Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas played Jordan's North Carolina Tar Heels.
I've added those guys, as well as Nicklas Lidstrom at No. 5 and Brett Hull at No. 16. I've also added some great female athletes like Candace Parker and Diana Taurasi at No. 3, Dawn Staley at No. 5 and Teresa Weatherspoon at 11.
There are probably still more "greats" we're missing. So keep tweeting us @USATODAYSports and let us know.
GALLERY: Top pro athletes by number, 00-99