'The Numbers Game': Which Mavs and Other DFW Sports Stars 'Wore It Best'?
During last month’s Oscars pregame on the red carpet, fawning, breathless hosts will “ooh,” “ahh” and pose the vexing question, “Who wore it best?”
Because awards show dresses are made to be temporarily ogled, but classic sports uniform numbers are fashionably eternal, it’s better-late-than-never time to similarly critique the jerseys worn by our Dallas-Fort Worth athletes and compile our annual (yes, it’s fluid) all-time fantasy roster.
To determine which player wore it best, we must have both a vivid memory and a knack for appropriately weighing individual achievement, team success and esoteric, intangible “feel.” The criterion for determining which local athlete “owns” a specific number is as simple as it is subjective. It’s not necessarily the best player to wear the number, but more so an associative combination of performance, personality, pizzazz and perseverance
We envision 41 and it’s unanimous: Dirk Nowitzki. It’s indelible. Immortal.
Same with 7 belonging to Pudge Rodriguez, 8 to Troy Aikman, 12 to Roger Staubach, 29 to Adrian Beltre, 33 to Tony Dorsett, 34 to Nolan Ryan and, for better or worse, 42 evoking Roy Tarpley.
Easy, right?
Until, that is, we ponder who is No. 9 – Tony Romo or Mike Modano?
Is No. 11 Yu Darvish, Danny White or the energized gnat to appear in the fifth-most Mavericks games, J.J. Barea?
Is 22 the Dallas Cowboys’ best rusher (Emmitt Smith), their fastest runner (Bob Hayes) or the Mavs’ second all-time scorer (Rolando Blackman)?
Who owns 19 – Eric Dickerson or Juan Gonzalez? And at 20 there’s a titanic tug-of-war between a baseball MVP (Jeff Burroughs), a Stanley Cup champion (Ed Belfour) and an NFL Hall of Famer (Mel Renfro).
Choosing a definitive 10 means deciding which captain was grittier – Michael Young or Brenden Morrow? At 37 we’re forced to acknowledge the good of Doak Walker or the bad of Kenny Rogers. A trio of receivers grapple for 88 – Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin and Dez Bryant. The battle for 24 is between players with eerily similar accolades – the Cowboys’ Everson Walls and the Dallas Mavericks’ Mark Aguirre. Even Thomas Henderson vs. Sergei Zubov at 56 requires some profundity (stick-handling over trash-talking).
Sometimes championships tilt the scales (Modano over Romo) and Hall of Fames can win battles (Irvin over Pearson). Others, a huge persona edges bigger statistics (Deion Sanders over Ezekiel Elliott at 21). And every now and then unprecedented production (Smith) will nose out legendary speed (Hayes).
There are undeniably tough-luck numbers, with 54 astonishingly not belonging to Chuck Howley despite his six Pro Bowls, Super Bowl ring, Super Bowl MVP and place in the Cowboys Ring of Honor. Derek Harper’s 12 hangs in the rafters of American Airlines Center, but gets engulfed by Captain America. Jason Kidd bookended his Mavs career with a Rookie of the Year and an NBA championship, but he did so wearing Nos. 5 and 2 and, therefore, lays sole claim to neither. Despite being in net for the Stars’ lone Stanley Cup and in the hockey Hall of Fame, Belfour concedes 20 to Renfro and his 10 Pro Bowls, two Super Bowl rings and inductions in the Ring of Honor and Hall of Fame.
In determining who wore it best, there are shimmering, stunning outfits such as 9, 20, 22 and 54. And there are burlap sacks, like 81 belonging to Terrell Owens or Jackie Smith, and 69 not being able to find a better suitor than the 10-start career of late-’90s Cowboys offensive lineman George Hegamin.
Like all sports rosters, ours is flexible. Etched in merely pencil. (And worth arguing, below or with me on Twitter.)
In the coming years, Dak Prescott may overtake the Mavs’ Michael Finley for No. 4. Same for Luka Doncic and Tyron Smith at 77, Joey Gallo for Steve Nash at 13, Jamie Benn for Julio Franco at 14, Travis Frederick for Ed “Too Tall” Jones at 72, Leighton Vander Esch for Lee Roy Jordan at 55, and DeMarcus Lawrence for Jay Ratliff at 90.
He’s yet to finish his first season, but the Mavs’ Kristaps Porzingis is already trending to snatch No. 6 from Tyson Chandler.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but an assemblage of our Dallas Dream Team is surely is worth at least a couple lively debates.
So grab a beer, choose a side and pick a number. Any number.
00 Eric Montross, Mavericks
0 Al Oliver, Rangers
1 Elvis Andrus, Rangers
2 Derian Hatcher, Stars
3 Alex Rodriguez, Rangers
4 Michael Finley, Mavericks
5 LaDanian Tomlinson, TCU
6 Tyson Chandler, Mavericks
7 Ivan Rodriguez, Rangers
8 Troy Aikman, Cowboys
9 Mike Modano, Stars
10 Michael Young, Rangers
11 Yu Darvish, Rangers
12 Roger Staubach, Cowboys
13 Steve Nash, Mavericks
14 Julio Franco, Rangers
15 Brad Davis, Mavericks
16 Brett Hull, Stars
17 Don Meredith, Cowboys
18 Mitch Moreland, Rangers
19 Juan Gonzalez, Rangers
20 Mel Renfro, Cowboys
21 Deion Sanders, Cowboys
22 Emmitt Smith, Cowboys
23 Mark Teixeira, Rangers
24 Mark Aguirre, Mavericks
25 Joe Nieuwendyk, Stars
26 Johnny Oates, Rangers
27 Thomas Everett, Cowboys
28 Darren Woodson, Cowboys
29 Adrian Beltre, Rangers
30 Dan Reeves, Cowboys
31 Fergie Jenkins, Rangers
32 Josh Hamilton, Rangers
33 Tony Dorsett, Cowboys
34 Nolan Ryan, Rangers
35 John Wetteland, Rangers
36 Bobby Witt, Rangers
37 Doak Walker, SMU
38 Ron Washington, Rangers
39 Scott Feldman, Rangers
40 Bill Bates, Cowboys
41 Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
42 Roy Tarpley, Mavericks
43 Cliff Harris, Cowboys
44 Robert Newhouse, Cowboys
45 Derek Holland, Rangers
46 Mark Washington, Cowboys
47 Dexter Clinkscale, Cowboys
48 Daryl Johnston, Cowboys
49 Charlie Hough, Rangers
50 D.D. Lewis, Cowboys
51 Ken Norton Jr., Cowboys
52 Dexter Coakley, Cowboys
53 Mark Stepnoski, Cowboys
54 Randy White, Cowboys
55 Lee Roy Jordan, Cowboys
56 Sergei Zubov, Stars
57 Vinson Smith, Cowboys
58 Mike Hegman, Cowboys
59 Jeff Zimmerman, Rangers
60 Don Smerek, Cowboys
61 Nate Newton, Cowboys
62 John Fitzgerald, Cowboys
63 Mike Ribeiro, Stars
64 Tom Rafferty, Cowboys
65 Andre Gurode, Cowboys
66 George Andrie, Cowboys
67 Pat Donovan, Cowboys
68 Herb Scott, Cowboys
69 George Hegamin, Cowboys
70 Rayfield Wright, Cowboys
71 Mark Tuinei, Cowboys
72 Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Cowboys
73 Larry Allen, Cowboys
74 Bob Lilly, Cowboys
75 Jethro Pugh, Cowboys
76 John Niland, Cowboys
77 Tyron Smith, Cowboys
78 Leon Lett, Cowboys
79 Harvey Martin, Cowboys
80 Tony Hill, Cowboys
81 Terrell Owens, Cowboys
82 Jason Witten, Cowboys
83 Golden Richards, Cowboys
84 Jay Novacek, Cowboys
85 Kevin Williams, Cowboys
86 Butch Johnson, Cowboys
87 Jay Saldi, Cowboys
88 Michael Irvin, Cowboys
89 Mike Ditka, Cowboys
90 Jay Ratliff, Cowboys
91 Tyler Seguin, Stars
92 Tony Tolbert, Cowboys
93 Anthony Spencer, Cowboys
94 Charles Haley, Cowboys
95 Chad Hennings, Cowboys
96 Marcus Spears, Cowboys
97 La’Roi Glover, Cowboys
98 Greg Ellis, Cowboys
99 Chris Canty, Cowboys
