Bud Grant Earns Special Mention for Having Worn No. 86

Sometimes an Eagles number comes along where there is somebody worth a special mention.

Someone who didn’t do great things while wearing it but went on to do great things after leaving the jersey behind for someone else, perhaps someone who can make it great with on-the-field aplomb.

Such is the case with Bud Grant, who led a remarkable life and just turned 93 on May 20.

Grant passed Philly’s way in 1951. He spent two years with the Eagles after being drafted 14th overall in 1950. He was issued the No. 86, which is how many days until the Eagles are scheduled to open the regular season against the Washington Redskins on Sept. 13.

Grant was a receiver. In his second, and final season, he caught 56 passes for 997 yards and seven touchdowns.

In addition to being drafted by the Eagles, Grant was picked in the fourth round of the 1950 NBA Draft by the Minneapolis Lakers and he played 35 games during the 1949-50 seasons and signed with them for the 1950-51 season, choosing to continue his basketball career there because it was close to where he was raised in Wisconsin.

Grant was a reserve guard and a member of the 1950 Lakers’ championship team.

He played in the CFL with the Winnipeg Bombers from 1953-57 then became the Bombers’ head coach until 1966 when he took over the Minnesota Vikings.

During two stints as the Vikings’ head coach, Grant’s teams went 168-108-5. His overall coaching record, including his time in Winnipeg, was 260-152-7 and he has been inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame. There is a statue of him out front of Winnipeg’s stadium.

Perhaps he deserved to be in the top three jersey rankings, but who does he replace here? Even the runner-up selection is worthy.

You be the judge.

Current number 86 and No. 1 in the rankings:

Zach Ertz. The tight end, still just 29, holds the NFL record for single-season catches by a tight end with 116, which is also a team record. His 525 career receptions leave him 65 away from passing Harold Carmichael for most in team history and his 5,743 career receiving yards has him in fifth place but within striking distance of No. 3 Mike Quick’s 6,464.

Charle Young. A sixth pick overall out of USC in 1973, the tight end remains fourth in team history with 854 yards as a rookie and sixth on that rookie list for most receptions at 55. His six touchdowns as a rookie put him tied for sixth in Eagles lore. He was named rookie of the year in 1973 for that season, and those records that have withstood the test of time.

Young went to the Pro Bowl in three of his four years in Philly and went on to play three years for three different teams.

Fred Barnett. The third-round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft out of Arkansas State, had eight touchdowns catches his rookie season, which is tied with Jordan Matthews for the second-most in team history, one behind Calvin Williams, who was also drafted in 1990.

Barnett had 1,000-plus yard receiving seasons in 1992 and 1994. In ’94, he caught 78 passes, which is tied for 11th for most in single-season Eagles history.

In six years with Philly, he caught 365 passes for 4,634 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Runner-up:

Reggie Brown. The second-round pick out of Georgia in 2005 lasted just five seasons in the NFL, all with the Eagles. He had 177 catches for 2,574 yards and 17 touchdowns in that time.

Others:

Hal Prescott, Bob McChesney, Norman Willey, Ed Cooke, Dick Stafford, Fred Hill, Lewis Gilbert, Ken Dunek, Steve Folsom, Al Dixon, Gregg Garrity, Mike Siano, Dialleo Burks, Luther Broughton, Justin Armour, Russell Copeland, Brian Finneran, Alex Van Dyke, Gari Scott, Antonio Freeman, Kori Dickerson, and Evan Moore.