By The Numbers: The Best #56 in NFL History

I swear, the numbers we choose for this really are random, I really do draw these out of a hat–although I was tempted to throw this one back, because even I had trouble believing that we got them back to back. I mean, we have covered the best #79, #80 and #81 already–but that was over the course of eight years that we wrote those three, and they weren’t consecutive. Plus, kind of like the question of who is the best #80 in NFL history, in the end it’s not really a debate who the best #56 in NFL history is, right?

We can all agree that the all-time greatest player to wear #56 was…Marty Schottenheimer, right?  Seriously, he did wear it for his first three seasons playing for Buffalo, before switching to #57, and finishing his career with #54.

At the same time…it’s a pretty good list of players in NFL history that wore #56–maybe not quite as good as #55 will be, but there are five Hall of Famers that wore it as their primary jersey, a couple more Hall of Famers that wore it for part of their career, and a few pretty good players that aren’t in the Hall that wore it. There’s even a few that are wearing it today–including at least one that may make an updated version of this article someday, if he keeps playing like he has in his first couple of seasons…which his career will probably wrap up right around the time we finish this list.

Let’s start with some of the current players wearing #56, the most prominent being Quenton Nelson of the Indianapolis Colts, who is good enough that in playing just two seasons, he’s already got an Approximate Value on ProFootballReference of 28 (which sounds low, but that puts him at #67 all-time…after two seasons). He’s off to an okay start to his career, with two Pro Bowls and two All-Pro selections…so yeah, he’s coming for you LT.  Other prominent current players include Demario Davis, who after bouncing around the league some, was named to his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro teams in 2019, and former first round draft picks Dante Fowler and Garrett Bradbury.

A couple of well known defenders wore #56 for the first time in their careers in 2019, in Kwon Alexander (who changed from 58 when he went to San Francisco) and Terrell Suggs (who wore it for the Cardinals and Chiefs).

Finally, before we get into the real list, the two Hall of Famers that wore #56 as a secondary jersey include Ted Hendricks (aka The Mad Stork), who wore #56 in his one seasons in Green Bay (his only All-Pro season) and #83 for his the rest of his career (despite being a linebacker) and Dante Lavelli, who wore #56 for at least two of his 11 seasons in Cleveland, with PFR not showing anything from 1946-1949, and listing him at #56 in 1950-51 before changin to 86.

Now, the real list:

Lawrence Taylor – Not much doubt who would be at the top of this list. Despite a career that was at times troubled, the original LT put up an incredible first decade in the NFL, before sputtering out the last few years. He made the Pro Bowl each of his first 10 seasons, and was named first team All-Pro in eight of those seasons, including the first six of his career (and was named second team in the two seasons he didn’t get first team). He finished his career with 132.5 sacks (plus 9.5 sacks that weren’t counted as official stats his rookie season), 9 interceptions, 33 forced fumbles, and 11 fumble recoveries. He was voted the 1981 Defensive Rookie of the Year, league MVP in 1986, NFL Defensive Player of the Year three times, and was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, the 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and the 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, and in 1999 was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year eligible.

Chris Doleman – Drafted as an outside linebacker in 1985 by the Minnesota Vikings, Doleman switched to defensive end when the Vikings changed to a 4-3 defense in 1987, and his career took off. After starting just 22 of 32 games his first two seasons and managing just 3.5 sacks, he finished his career 13 years later having started 213 games and totaling 150.5 sacks. He wore #56 for two seasons in Atlanta, and three in San Francisco, before returning to Minnesota in 1999. He was an eight time Pro Bowler, two time first team All-Pro, and second team defensive end on the 1990s All-Decade team (behind Reggie White and Bruce Smith). In 2012, Doleman was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Andre Tippett – Tippett was a 2nd round pick of the New England Patriots in 1982, where he would play his entire 11 year career. He totalled 100 sacks in his career, and was named to 5 Pro Bowls and selected as a first team All-Pro twice. While he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008, one does wonder how much better his career could have been if the Patriots hadn’t been so incredibly mediocre (at best) throughout most of his career, as the team only made the playoffs three times in his career.

Bill Hewitt – Hewitt was an End and Fullback for the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles from 1932-1939, and then came out of retirement during World War II to play one season for the merged Phil-Pitt Steagles. He played offense, he played defense…he played without a helmet until a rule change in 1939 forced him to. He was selected first team All-Pro four times in his career (six if you count some of the second tier selections), was named to the 1930s All-Decade Team and the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, and was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1971.

Joe Schmidt – The last of the Hall of Famers on the list, Schmidt was a middle linebacker for the Detroit Lions from 1953 to 1965. Joining a defending NFL Championship team as a seventh round pick, he was considered a long shot to make the roster–but he beat the odds, and actually ended up winning a starting spot. By his second season, he was named first team All-Pro for the first time, which he would do six consecutive seasons and eight overall, and named to his first of 10 consecutive Pro Bowls. He was named the NFL Lineman of the year in 1957, and NFL Defensive MVP in 1960 & 1963. He was selected for the 1950s All-Decade Team, and joined Taylor & Hewitt on the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. In 1973, he also was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Pat Swilling – A 3rd round draft pick in the 1986 NFL Draft, Swilling played 12 seasons in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders. He wore #56 throughout his entire career, even forcing the Lions to unretire Schmidt’s jersey # for his two seasons there. He totalled 107.5 total sacks in his career, was a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time first team All-Pro. He also has the dubious record of losing all six playoff games he appeared in–no NFL player has more losses without a win.

Derrick Johnson – The most recent player on the list, Johnson was the 15th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft, and played 13 years with the Kansas City Chiefs before joining the Oakland Raiders for one final season. As a primarily inside linebacker, his stats aren’t as gaudy as many others on this list, with just 27.5 career sakcs, but he did also force 22 fumbles, intercepted 14 passes and returned four of them for touchdowns, and had an unofficial 1,154 total tackles. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and one-time All-Pro.

Hardy Nickerson – Nickerson played in the NFL for an incredible 16 years, starting 200 games over his career for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers. Like Johnson, he played primarily on the inside, finishing with 1,586 tackles, 21 sacks, 12 interceptions, 19 forced fumbles and 14 fumble recoveries in his career. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro.

Others worth mentioning include Keith Brooking, Darryl Talley, Chip Banks, Al Wilson and Doug Smith.

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