Welcome to the Greatest Huskers by the Numbers countdown!
Over the next 100 days leading up to the start of the 2025 season, I’ll be counting down the greatest Husker player to wear each uniform number (99 – 0). Longtime readers may remember that I did a version of this exercise back in 2013, using only players from the first 50 years of the Sellout Streak (1962 – 2012). This time, every Husker* is being considered.
*Every Husker with a uniform number, that is. Nebraska’s first season was in 1890. The first college football game – ever – with numbered uniforms was in 1905 (between Drake and Iowa State). The earliest Husker season with uniform numbers (either on a roster or a photograph) that I have found is 1921. This makes sense, as the NCAA recommended that teams wear numbered jerseys in 1920.I don’t know if the number recommendation took a while to be fully adopted, if record keeping in the 1920s was sporadic, or both. Regardless, the rosters from 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1926 do not list any uniform numbers. Every roster from 1927 to the present has numbers listed for most players – although freshmen and walk-ons were not always assigned a number.
Some of the picks were easy. Spoiler: Ndamukong Suh is the best to ever wear the #93 jersey at Nebraska. Likewise, it is a safe bet that the other Husker legends whose names appear on the North Stadium façade will make the list as well.
On the flip side, there are some numbers with a very pedestrian history. Take #49, for example. Who would you name as the best player to ever wear #49 at Nebraska? Heck, I’ll tip my cap if you can name more than two players to wear #49 in the last 50 years without turning to the internet or old media guides. (Stay tuned to see who I picked
