Number 58 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best
In this story:
The countdown to the start of the 2022 regular season has begun now that we're under 100 days away, so we'll honor every day the best players to wear the corresponding number for the Dolphins.
Today, we're at number 58.
As a reminder about the ground rules, the top three will be determined only by what the players did while wearing that uniform for the Dolphins.
Players who wore 58 for at least one regular season game for the Dolphins:
C Tom Goode (1966-69), LB Dale Farley (1971), LB Bruce Bannon (1973-74), DE-LB Kim Bokamper (1977-85), LB Rick Graf (1987), LB Ilia Jarostchuk (1988), LB Chris Gaines (1988), Tony Furjanic (1988), LB Barry Krauss (1989), LB Mark Sander (1992), LB Jesse Solomon (1994), LB Antonio Armstrong (1995), LB O.J. Brigance (1996), LB Scott Galyon (2000-02), LB Eddie Moore (2004-05), LB Kelvin Smith (2007), LB William Kershaw (2008-09), LB Karlos Dansby (2010-12), DT Marvin Austin (2013), LB Chris McCain (2014-15), LB Rey Maualuga (2017), DE Jason Strowbridge (2020)
The breakdown of 58 with the Dolphins
The Killer B's get represented with number 58 because Kim Bokamper, who played both defensive end and outside linebacker for the Dolphins, had to get the nod for the best with that number. He started 103 of the 127 games he played for the Dolphins over nine years, and made the Pro Bowl in 1979. He had eight sacks in 1978, though sacks didn't became an official stat until 1982. Tom Goode was a four-year starter at center after the Dolphins selected him from Houston in the expansion draft and he was selected to the AFL All-Star Game in 1969. Karlos Dansby also had a very good three seasons with the Dolphins, as he averaged 110 tackles per year, though the defense as a whole struggled during his time in Miami. Scott Galyon was a solid backup and special teams player for three seasons.
Worth noting
Farley appeared in four games as a rookie third-round pick in 1971, but he was traded to the Buffalo Bills in June 1972 and missed out on the perfect season. ... Bannon appeared in every game for the Dolphins in his two seasons after being claimed off waivers from the Jets, then was traded to the Chargers in July 1975. ... Graf played four seasons for the Dolphins after being a second-round pick in 1987, but he wore 58 only as a rookie when he played 12 games with five starts. ... Krauss' one season with the Dolphins closed out his NFL career after he had played 10 seasons with the Colts. ... Solomon closed out his nine-year NFL career by appearing in six games for the Dolphins in 1994, five years after he was part of the gigantic Herschel Walker trade between the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings. ... Armstrong is a tragic figure in Dolphins history: His NFL career consisted of the four games he played in 1995 and in 2016 he and his wife were shot and killed in their home in Houston and their son was charged with their murder. ... O.J. Brigance played the first of his four seasons as a key special teams player for the Dolphins wearing 58. ... Eddie Moore played 18 games in three starts in two seasons with the Dolphins after being the team's top pick in 2003 and spending his rookie year on IR with a foot injury. ... Maualuga joined the Dolphins after starting 104 games for Cincinnati over an eight-year period, but after starting four games in 2017 he was released after he was arrested for battery.
The top three Dolphins players with number 58
1. DE-LB Kim Bokamper
2. C Tom Goode
3. LB Karlos Dansby
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Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989. You can follow him on Twitter at @PoupartNFL.
