Number 61 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 61.
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 61 for at least one regular season game for the Dolphins:
G Ernie Park (1966), G-DL Freddie Woodson (1967-69), C Bob DeMarco (1970-71), T Cleveland Green (1979), G Thom Dornbrook (1980), G Roy Foster (1982-90), T Greg Cleveland (1987), G Gene Williams (1991-92), C Tim Ruddy (1994-2003), T J'Marcus Webb (2019), C Austin Reiter (2021)
The breakdown of 61 with the Dolphins
The battle for the top spot at 61 is a tight one and it involves two players, Roy Foster and Tim Ruddy. Foster played 132 games with 95 starts over nine years with the Dolphins after arriving as a first-round pick and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Ruddy was a second-round pick who had more games (156) and more starts (140), though he had one Pro Bowl selection. Ernie Park started 11 games for the Dolphins in their inaugural season in the middle of a six-year pro football career. Woodson played 27 games for the Dolphins and made eight starts at guard in 1967. Bob DeMarco was a 32-year-old two-time NFL All-Pro when he arrived in Miami in 1970 and he started for two seasons before being traded when future Hall of Famer Jim Langer took over at center.
Worth noting
Cleveland Green had a seven-year career with the Dolphins, but 76 of his 92 career games and all 32 of his starts came when he was wearing 74. ... Dornbrook played four games for the Dolphins in 1980 after earning a Super Bowl ring with the 1979 Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom he had played all 16 games. ... Gene Williams appeared in 15 games over two seasons after being a fifth-round pick in 1991, but he went to play seven more seasons with Cleveland and Atlanta and played 98 more games with 65 starts. ... Webb started eight games for the Dolphins in 2019 playing for his sixth time in nine NFL seasons.
The top three Dolphins players with number 61
1. C Tim Ruddy
2. G Roy Foster
3. C Bob DeMarco
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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.
