Who Wore It Best? Part 1

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May 6, 2020

By Noonefromtampa

Welcome to a brand new offseason column series! In the coming weeks, I will reflect back on the history of the Redskins franchise by looking at former and current players and the jersey numbers they wore.  This will be a 10-part series, looking at numbers grouped by tens (i.e. 0-9, 10-19, etc.). The focus will be on players from the modern era beginning in the 1960’s and forward, and I will take a stab at identifying the best Redskins player who ever wore that jersey number.

Hopefully everyone will enjoy the entertainment value and will be able to have some good football related discussions as a result.

Jerseys from 0 to 9

Jersey #1

The competition is between two punters, Matt Turk and Reggie Roby. While Roby was a greater punter, he only played a couple of seasons for the Redskins, which means Matt Turk is the player who wore #1 best. Key stats:

  • Played 78 games for the Redskins from 1995 to 1999
  • Averaged 43.8 yards per punt gross and 38.1 yards net
  • Selected to three straight Pro Bowls from 1996 to 1998
  • Selected first team All Pro in 1996

Jersey #2

This is another number packed with kickers and punters such as Kai Forbath, Kelly Goodburn, Ralf Mojsiejenko, and Eddie Murray. While “Kobra” Kai is the best of a very mundane class, I would say nobody is worthy of the “title” for this number.

Jersey #3

This group has some great firsts and one worst. The worst is a one of the top ten worst Redskins free agent signings, quarterback Jeff George. Signing George led to the departure of Brad Johnson (who would win a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay) and started the QB revolving door of the early 2000’s. The firsts include the first NFL placekicker taken in the first round of the draft and a kicker who was the first ever selected as the NFL League MVP. Charlie Gogolak was the first kicker selected in round 1 of the NFL Draft by the Redskins in 1966. He played three seasons and ranks 37th in scoring for the Redskins.

The player who wore it best is the great Mark Moseley. The kicker was synonymous with the legendary 80’s Gibbs teams and was the first kicker selected as league MVP in 1982 when he made a then record 92.5% of his kicks.  Key stats:

  • Redskins career scoring leader with 1,206 points
  • Redskins career leader in field goal attempts and field goals made
  • Redskins career leader in extra point attempts and extra points made
  • Pro Bowl in 1979 and 1982, first team All Pro in 1982

Jersey #4

This group includes Bryan Barker, Derrick Frost, Graham Gano, but who wore it best was punter Mike Bragg.

Bragg played a total of 172 games in 12 seasons with the Redskins and was a member of the 1972 Super Bowl team.

Jersey #5

Now, we get a more eclectic group of players from quarterbacks like bust Heath Shuler and fan unfavorite Donovan McNabb to kickers and punters such as Curt Knight, Jeff Hayes, Brett Conway and the guy who wore it best, punter Tress Way. Way has been the best special teams player the Redskins have had since Brian Mitchell. Some key stats on Way:

  • Career average of 46.6 gross yards per punt with a net of 40.9 yards
  • In 2018, he had zero touchbacks and has a career average of just 4.7 touchbacks per season
  • Career average of 27 punts inside the 20-yard line per season

Jersey #6

This is yet another jersey number that hasn’t been worn by anybody outstanding. This group includes Tommy Barnhardt, Ali Haji-Sheikh, Ola Kimrin, Shane Matthews, Sav Rocca, and Shaun Suisham.

Jersey #7

This is an easy one: Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann. What, did you think I was going to say Dwayne Haskins? Key stats:

  • Team career leader in passing yards, attempts and completions
  • Most games played by a quarterback

Jersey #8

Yes, the “Sexy Rexy” number. No, Rex Grossman is not the choice here and neither is another quarterback who was pretty good for the Redskins under Joe Gibbs, Mark Brunell. The pick here is Chip Lohmiller, who was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1988 draft. He is the 2nd all time leading scorer also behind Mosley.

Jersey #9

We end with a personal favorite of mine, Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen. Sonny played on some awful teams in the 60’s but he played with some outstanding receiving talent in Bobby Mitchell, Charley Taylor and Jerry Smith. Sonny lead the league in passing yards gained three times, in 1966, 1967 and 1969, aided in no small part by that trio of pass catchers.

Next week we will review jersey numbers ten through nineteen.