If there were jersey number rankings, 46 wouldn't rank that high.
Major League Baseball teams have retired dozens of numbers, but not 46.
National Basketball Association teams have retired dozens of numbers, but not 46.
National Hockey League teams have retired dozens of numbers, but not 46.
National Football League teams have retired dozens of numbers - and one of them is 46, as worn by Don Fleming of the Cleveland Browns.
Then again, the Cleveland Browns don't exist at the moment. So, no current NFL team has retired a jersey number 46.
Don Mattingly's number was retired by the New York Yankees, and he wore 46 in 1982-83. But then he switched to 23, and that's the number the Yanks yanked from circulation.
There's been a story making the rounds that Michael Jordan chose jersey 23 when he was a youngster because his older brother Larry wore 46, and his "Airness" picked half of 46. Truth is, Larry Jordan wore 45 (as did Sir Air, in baseball). And who wants to wear 22 1/2?
Probably the best-known player to wear No. 46 is Lou "The Toe" Groza, another former Cleveland Brown, and the namesake of the Lou Groza Award given annual to college football's best place-kicker. But the former Ohio State star didn't wear 46 very long; he wore 76 most of his career.
Another ex-Ohio State player, Chicago Bears safety Doug Plank, wore 46. The Bears' defensive coordinator, Buddy Ryan, used that number to name the "46" defense he said he invented. Problem is, at least two other coaches - George Allen and Neill Armstrong - have said they, not Ryan, invented the "46" defense.
Former relief ace Lee Smith probably is the best-known athlete to wear 46 for an extended period. But he's retired and his number isn't.
When Stump Merrill was the Yankees' manager, he wore 46. But not by design. When the Yankees hired Darrell Evans as their hitting coach, he said he wanted number 41, which was being worn by Merrill. In the typically zany Yankee tradition of the time, the coach got his manager's number, and Merrill took 46, since it was, of course, available.
Remember Jessie Armstead? He was the ballyhooed Dallas Carter linebacker who held a press conference at the lavish Anatole Hotel to say he would play for the University of Miami. And he chose to wear No. 1 for the Hurricanes and drop his high school number - 46, of course. "This is my old 46," he said, "and I'm going to No. 1 now."
Others who have worn 46 include: Rob Murphy, Andy Pettite, Brooks Lawrence, Jason Bere and Steve Trachsel in baseball, and Tim McDonald, Pete Johnson and Todd Christensen in football.
Archive ID: 734013
