Part III of CU History Week is, by far, the dumbest part of the series. But no one told me no, so I’m going to publish this labor of love that began when I compiled a power ranking of the most iconic numbers in CU history. (#8 should be in the top 10, by the way, and #31 should drop down to honorable mentions.)
This a list of 99 numbers with the best ever player to wear it. For players who wore multiple numbers, their best years are attributed to the number they wore in those season. Deon Figures, for example, wore #21, #29 and #2, but he won the Jim Thorpe Award wearing #2.
Also, please be nice. I understand if I missed a few people, but I tried my best and looked up and down like 40 different CU rosters. It was too much work for a stupid article. Feel free to comment someone I missed. Just make sure you look up their number first so that you don’t get mad at me for forgetting Thaddeus Washington even though Brian Cabral was the better #49. It’s also important that some of these numbers have no great players, so don’t yell at me for having Ryan Moeller on here.
Also, also, I’m not going to write anything about anyone. If you don’t know who the player is, feel free to look them up and do your own research. I’m tired.
- Eric Bieniemy, RB
- Deon Figures, DB
- Darian Hagan, QB
- Chidobe Awuzie, DB
- Rodney Stewart, RB
- Paul Richardson, WR
- Bernard Jackson, QB
- Sal Aunese, QB
- Mike Pritchard, WR
- Kordell Stewart, QB
- Bobby Andseron, QB
- John Stearns, S
- Sefo Liufau, QB
- Joel Klatt, QB
- Chad Brown, LB
- Matt Russell, LB
- Lawrence Vickers, FB
- Frank Bernardi, RB
- Rashaan Salaam, RB
- Davion Taylor, LB/DB
- Rae Carruth, WR
- Chris Brown, RB
- Cliff Branch, WR
- Byron “Whizzer” White, RB
- Ryan Moeller, LB/DB
- Charlie Davis, RB
- Carroll Hardy, RB
- Odis McKinney, DB
- J.J. Flannigan, RB
- Terry Kunz, FB
- Michael Lewis, S
- Ron Merkerson, LB
- Brandon Drumm, FB
- Mustafa Johnson, DL
- Marlon Barnes, RB
- Ryan Sutter, S
- Rick Stearns, DL
- Billy Waddy, RB
- Jeff Brunner, FB
- Barry Remington, LB
- Bo Matthews, FB
- Bobby Purify, RB
- Brendan Schaub, FB
- Jordon Dizon, LB
- Charlie Greer, DB
- Ted Johnson, LB
- Chris Hudson, DB
- Lee Rousen, RB
- Brian Cabral, LB
- Tony Berti, OL
- Tom Ashworth, OL
- Jay Leeuwenburg, OL
- Nate Landman, LB
- Pete Brock, OL
- Tyronee “Tiger” Bussey, LB
- Ron Woolfork, LB
- Joe McCreary, OL
- Mark Fenton, OL
- David Bakhtiari, OL
- Matt McChesney, DL
- Erik Norgard, OL
- Joe Garten, OL
- Heath Irwin, OL
- Bryan Stoltenberg, OL
- Chris Naeole, OL
- Paul Briggs, OL
- Joe Romig, OL/LB
- John Emmerling, OL
- John Wooten, OL
- Mark Koncar, OL
- Matt Miller, OL
- John Denvir, OL
- Ryan Miller, OL
- Sam Wilder, OL
- Aaron Wade, OL
- Ariel Solomon, OL
- Bill Brundige, DL
- Nate Solder, OL
- Stan Brock, OL
- Jon Embree, TE
- Michael Westbrook, WR
- Jerry Hillebrand, DL
- Franklin Clarke, TE
- Tyson DeVree, TE
- Keith English, P
- Christian Fauria, TE
- Riar Geer, TE
- Herb Orvis, DL
- Daniel Graham, TE
- Marquez Herrod, DL
- Troy Archer, DL
- Shannon Clavelle, DL
- Joel Steed, DL
- Alfred Williams, DL
- Garry Howe, DL
- Kanavis McGhee, LB
- Justin Bannan, DL
- Jimmie Gilbert, LB
- Tyler Brayton, DL
Apologies to Phillip Lindsay, more so than anyone else.