Top All-Time Athletes in Columbus by Jersey Number

[NotWendell]

Taking this idea from The Athletic, which they botched by making it Columbus AND Cleveland in their rendition (heavy on the Cleveland side). Take the players/numbers from the CBJ, Columbus Crew SC, Ohio State football, Ohio State hoops (men's and women's) and any other pro or college team in Columbus I might have forgotten about.

Let's get the easy ones out of the way now.

#2 - Frankie Hejduk
#20 - Brian McBride
#45 - Archie Griffin
#61 - Rick Nash
#72 - Sergei Bobrovsky

Now, I would add #30 - Katie Smith (2 titles with the ABL Columbus Quest) to my list. But that's where things start to get interesting.

NOMINEES BASED ON YOUR INPUT:
1 - Matt Nagy (Destroyers) or Brad Friedel (Crew) or Braxton Miller (OSU)
2 - Frankie Hejduk (Crew) or Chase Young (OSU) or Terrell Pryor (OSU) or Mike Doss (OSU)
3 - Seth Jones (CBJ) or Mike Clark (Crew)
4 - Lyle Odelein (CBJ) or Kirk Herbstreit (OSU)
5 - John Havlicek (OSU Men) or Natalie Spooner (OSU Womens Hockey)
6 - Todd Yeagley (Crew) or Nick Swisher (Clippers)
7 - Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Crew) or Jack Johnson (CBJ)
8 - Geoff Sanderson (CBJ) or Zach Werenski (CBJ)
9 - David Vyborny (CBJ) or Artemi Panarin (CBJ)
10 - Federico Higuain (Crew) or Alejandro Moreno (Crew) or Troy Smith (OSU) or Jack Sack (NFL Columbus Tigers)
11 - Jerry Lucas (OSU Men) or Jeff Cunningham (Crew) or Valerie Still (OSU Women)
12 - Eddie Gaven (Crew) or Scoonie Penn (OSU Men) or Jay Burson (OSU Men, Columbus Horizon)
13 - Derek Jeter (Clippers) or Cam Atkinson (CBJ) or Maurice Clarett (OSU)
14 - Chad Marshall (Crew) or Stern John (Crew) or Ray Whitney (CBJ) or Bobby Hoying (OSU)
15 - Ezekiel Elliott (OSU) or Kirk Urso (Crew, OSU Mens Soccer)
16 - Kei Kamara (Crew)
17 - Hal Morris (Clippers) or Brandon Dubinsky (CBJ)
18 - RJ Umberger (CBJ, OSU Hockey)
19 - Don Mattingly (Clippers) or Robert Warzycha (Crew)
20 - Brian McBride (Crew)
21 - Espen Knutsen (CBJ)
22 - Les Horvath (OSU) or Jimmy Jackson (OSU Men) or Michael Redd (OSU Men) or Vinny Prospal (CBJ)
23 - Derrick Walser (CBJ) or David Clarkson (CBJ)
24 - Bobby Knight (OSU Men) or Dave Righetti (Clippers)
25 - Andrew Cassells (CBJ) or Bernie Williams (Clippers)
26 - Robert Smith (OSU)
27 - Eddie George (OSU) or Fred Taylor (OSU Men)
28 - Beanie Wells (OSU) or Tyler Wright (CBJ)
29 - Grant Marshall (CBJ)
30 - Katie Smith (Quest, OSU Women)
31 - Ron Tugnutt (CBJ) or Vic Janowicz (OSU)
32 - Tonya Edwards (Quest)
33 - Clark Kellogg (OSU Men) or Pete Johnson (OSU) or James Laurinaitis (OSU)
34 - Carlos Hyde (OSU)
35 - Jim Otis (OSU)
36 - Chris Spielman (OSU)
37 - Steve Balboni (Clippers)
38 - Boone Jenner (CBJ)
39 -
40 - Hopalong Cassidy (OSU) or Jared Boll (CBJ)
41 - Keith Byers (OSU)
42 - Artem Anisimov (CBJ) or Paul Warfield (OSU)
43 - Mariano Rivera (Clippers) or Scott Hartnell (CBJ)
44 - Rostislov Klesla (original jersey number - CBJ)
45 - Archie Griffin (OSU)
46 -
47 - AJ Hawk (OSU) or Chic Harley (OSU)
48 - Marc Methot (CBJ)
49 -
50 - Jessica Davenport (OSU Women)
51 - Anthony Schlegel (OSU) or Fedor Tyutin (CBJ)
52 - Adam Foote (CBJ)
53 - George Koonce (Ohio Glory)
54 - Billy Price (OSU) or Tom DeLeone (OSU)
55 - Nick Mangold (OSU)
56 - Marko Dano (CBJ) or Rob Murphy (OSU)
57 - Steve Heinze (CBJ)
58 - David Savard (CBJ)
59 - Tyquan Lewis (OSU)
60 - Charles Csuri (OSU)
61 - Rick Nash (CBJ)
62 - Jim Parker (OSU)
63 - Michael Bennett (OSU)
64 - Jim Lachey (OSU)
65 - Markus Nutivaara (CBJ)
66 -
67 -
68 - Jim Stillwagon (OSU)
69 -
70 - Joonas Korpisalo (CBJ)
71 - Nick Foligno (CBJ)
72 - Sergei Bobrovsky (CBJ) or Dan Wilkinson (OSU)
73 -
74 - John Hicks (OSU)
75 - Orlando Pace (OSU)
76 - Lou Groza (OSU)
77 - Anson Carter (CBJ) or Josh Anderson (CBJ)
78 - Korey Stringer (OSU)
79 -
80 -
81 -
82 -
83 - Terry Glenn (OSU)
84 -
85 - Mike Nugent (OSU)
86 -
87 - Greg Lashutka (OSU)
88 - Ben Hartsock (OSU)
89 - Sam Gagner (CBJ)
90 - Elvis Merzlikins (CBJ)
91 - Sergei Fedorov (CBJ)
92 -
93 - Jakub Voracek (CBJ)
94 - Mike Vrabel (OSU)
95 - Matt Duchene (CBJ)
96 -
97 - Nick Bosa (OSU) or Joey Bosa (OSU) or Cameron Heyward (OSU)
98 - Pepper Johnson (OSU)
99 - Bill Willis (OSU)

Click to read more...

 

[EspenK]

#11 Jerry Lucas
#33 Clark Kellogg
#5 John Havlicek
#22 Jim Jackson
#23 Hopalong Cassidy
#74 John Hicks
#75 Orlando Pace

I assume most of these will be FB players. I know no Crew #'s. #70 and above OSU FB guys.
Columbus Clippers? Was jeter #2 here?

 

[Doggy]

delete

 

[NotWendell]

#3 Seth Jones
#8 Geoff Sanderson
#9 David Vyborny
#13 Derek Jeter or Cam Atkinson - who gets it?
#14 Chad Marshall
#19 Don Mattingly
#27 Eddie George

 

[Cyclones Rock]

#10 Art Schlichter. And that's a mortal lock.

 

[EspenK]

#3 Seth Jones

#13 Derek Jeter or Cam Atkinson - who gets it?

If Jeter was a 13 here I say Cam. Jeter will always be 2 to me.

 

[The Jones Zone]

#10 Art Schlichter. And that's a mortal lock.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

You must suffer for this

 

[NotWendell]

You guys are funny

 

[ViD]

42 is most definitely Arty

 

[KCbus]

#1 Brad Friedel only played 38 games in Columbus. I'd take him out.

#3 Honorable mention to Mike Clark, but I'll go with Seth.

 

[EspenK]

Showing my Crew ignorance who the heck is Kirk Orso? I'd go with Zeke.

 

[NotWendell]

I think for the numbers with multiple options, I'm going to do polls if there is interest.

 

[Johansen2Foligno]

Jared Boll for #40

 

[Monk]

I'd put Bemstrom over Foote

 

[CBJWerenski8]

I'm going to do CBJ only, since I could only do Buckeye football, basketball, or CBJ players anyway. Also this is how they played for the CBJ, not necessarily how good they were as an NHL player (unless I have to).

1: Steve Mason
2: Kris Russell
3: Seth Jones
4: Lyle Odelein
5: Jamie Pushor
6: Ron Hainsey
7: Jack Johnson
8: Zach Werenski
9: David Vyborny
10: Alex Wennberg
11: Matt Calvert
12: Jiri Novotny
13: Cam Atkinson
14: Ray Whitney
15: Derek Dorsett
16: Derick Brassard
17: Brandon Dubinsky
18: RJ Umberger (for now, PLD soon)
19: Ryan Johansen
20: Kristian Huselius
21: Espen Knutsen
22: Vinny Prospal
23: Derrick Walser (by default, look it up)
24: Derek MacKenzie
25: Jason Chimera
26: Todd Marchant
27: Manny Malhotra (HM to Murray)
28: Tyler Wright (HM to Bjorkstrand)
29: Grant Marshall
30: Marc Denis
31: Ron Tugnutt
32: Mathieu Garon
33: Fredrik Modin
34: Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre
35: Jan Hejda
36: Jonathan Marchessault (yeah seriously look it up)
37: Mattias Timander
38: Boone Jenner
39: Michael Chaput
40: Jared Boll
41: Alex Wennberg
42: Artem Anisimov
43: Scott Hartnell
44: Vladislav Gavrikov
45: Jody Shelley
46: Dean Kukan
47: Dalton Prout
48: Marc Methot
49: Dan Fritsche
50: Antoine Vermette
51: Fedor Tyutin
52: Adam Foote (puke)
53: Josh Anderson
54: Scott Harrington
55: Mark Letestu
56: Marko Dano
57: Steve Heinze
58: David Savard
61: Rick Nash
62: Alex Broadhurst
64: Tyler Motte
65: Markus Nutivaara
67: Justin Scott
70: Joonas Korpisalo
71: Nick Foligno
72: Sergei Bobrovsky
74: Devin Shore
77: Josh Anderson
78: Mike York
80: Mattis Kivlenieks
88: Kole Sherwood
89: Sam Gagner
90: Elvis Merzlikins
91: Sergei Fedorov
93: Jake Voracek
95: Matt Duchene
97: Rusty Klesla

59, 60, 63, 66, 68, 69, 73, 75, 76, 79, 81-87, 92, 94, 96, 98, 99: Nobody

 

[NotWendell]

Isn't it amazing we still have all those numbers that have never been used?

 

[rotsbu]

Any love for Panarin at #9? Only two years here but pretty darn fun while it lasted.

 

[NotWendell]

I have him as one of the best for jersey #9 on the master list (first post)

 

[rotsbu]

Taking this idea from The Athletic, which they botched by making it Columbus AND Cleveland in their rendition (heavy on the Cleveland side). Take the players/numbers from the CBJ, Columbus Crew SC, Ohio State football, Ohio State hoops (men's and women's) and any other pro or college team in Columbus I might have forgotten about.

Let's get the easy ones out of the way now.

#2 - Frankie Hejduk
#20 - Brian McBride
#45 - Archie Griffin
#61 - Rick Nash
#72 - Sergei Bobrovsky

Now, I would add #30 - Katie Smith (2 titles with the ABL Columbus Quest) to my list. But that's where things start to get interesting.

NOMINEES BASED ON YOUR INPUT:
1 - Brad Friedel (Crew) or Braxton Miller (OSU)
2 - Frankie Hejduk (Crew) or Chase Young (OSU) or Terrell Pryor (OSU)
3 - Seth Jones (CBJ) or Mike Clark (Crew)
4 - Lyle Odelein (CBJ) or Kirk Herbstreit (OSU)
5 - John Havlicek (OSU Men) or Natalie Spooner (OSU Womens Hockey)
6 - Todd Yeagley (Crew) or Nick Swisher (Clippers)
7 - Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Crew)
8 - Geoff Sanderson (CBJ) or Zach Werenski (CBJ)
9 - David Vyborny (CBJ) or Artemi Panarin (CBJ)
10 - Federico Higuain (Crew) or Alejandro Moreno (Crew) or Troy Smith (OSU) or Jack Sack (NFL Columbus Tigers)
11 - Jerry Lucas (OSU Men) or Jeff Cunningham (Crew) or Valerie Still (OSU Women)
12 - Eddie Gaven (Crew) or Scoonie Penn (OSU Men) or Jay Burson (OSU Men, Columbus Horizon)
13 - Derek Jeter (Clippers) or Cam Atkinson (CBJ) or Maurice Clarett (OSU)
14 - Chad Marshall (Crew) or Stern John (Crew) or Ray Whitney (CBJ) or Bobby Hoying (OSU)
15 - Ezekiel Elliott (OSU) or Kirk Urso (Crew, OSU Mens Soccer)
16 - Kei Kamara (Crew)
17 - Hal Morris (Clippers) or Brandon Dubinsky (CBJ)
18 - RJ Umberger (CBJ, OSU Hockey)
19 - Don Mattingly (Clippers) or Robert Warzycha (Crew)
20 - Brian McBride (Crew)
21 - Espen Knutsen (CBJ)
22 - Les Horvath (OSU), Jimmy Jackson (OSU Men), Michael Redd (OSU Men)
23 - Derrick Walser (CBJ) or David Clarkson (CBJ)
24 - Bobby Knight (OSU Men) or Dave Righetti (Clippers)
25 - Andrew Cassells (CBJ) or Bernie Williams (Clippers)
26 - Robert Smith (OSU)
27 - Eddie George (OSU) or Fred Taylor (OSU Men)
28 - Beanie Wells (OSU) or Tyler Wright (CBJ)
29 - Grant Marshall (CBJ)
30 - Katie Smith (Quest, OSU Women)
31 - Ron Tugnutt (CBJ) or Vic Janowicz (OSU)
32 - Tonya Edwards (Quest)
33 - Clark Kellogg (OSU Men) or Pete Johnson (OSU) or James Laurinaitis (OSU)
34 - Carlos Hyde (OSU)
35 - Jim Otis (OSU)
36 - Chris Spielman (OSU)
37 - Steve Balboni (Clippers)
38 - Boone Jenner (CBJ)
39 -
40 - Hopalong Cassidy (OSU) or Jared Boll (CBJ)
41 - Keith Byers (OSU)
42 - Artem Anisimov (CBJ) or Paul Warfield (OSU)
43 - Mariano Rivera (Clippers) or Scott Hartnell (CBJ)
44 - Rostislov Klesla (original jersey number - CBJ)
45 - Archie Griffin (OSU)
46 -
47 - AJ Hawk (OSU) or Chic Harley (OSU)
48 - Marc Methot (CBJ)
49 -
50 - Jessica Davenport (OSU Women)
51 - Anthony Schlegel (OSU) or Fedor Tyutin (CBJ)
52 - Adam Foote (CBJ)
53 - George Koonce (Ohio Glory)
54 - Billy Price (OSU) or Tom DeLeone (OSU)
55 - Nick Mangold (OSU)
56 - Marko Dano (CBJ) or Rob Murphy (OSU)
57 - Steve Heinze (CBJ)
58 - David Savard (CBJ)
59 - Tyquan Lewis (OSU)
60 - Charles Csuri (OSU)
61 - Rick Nash (CBJ)
62 - Jim Parker (OSU)
63 - Michael Bennett (OSU)
64 - Jim Lachey (OSU)
65 - Markus Nutivaara (CBJ)
66 -
67 -
68 - Jim Stillwagon (OSU)
69 -
70 - Joonas Korpisalo (CBJ)
71 - Nick Foligno (CBJ)
72 - Sergei Bobrovsky (CBJ) or Dan Wilkinson (OSU)
73 -
74 - John Hicks (OSU)
75 - Orlando Pace (OSU)
76 - Lou Groza (OSU)
77 - Anson Carter (CBJ) or Josh Anderson (CBJ)
78 - Korey Stringer (OSU)
79 -
80 -
81 -
82 -
83 - Terry Glenn (OSU)
84 -
85 - Mike Nugent (OSU)
86 -
87 - Greg Lashutka (OSU)
88 -
89 - Sam Gagner (CBJ)
90 - Elvis Merzlikins (CBJ)
91 - Sergei Fedorov (CBJ)
92 -
93 - Jakub Voracek (CBJ)
94 - Mike Vrabel (OSU)
95 - Matt Duchene (CBJ)
96 -
97 - Nick Bosa (OSU) or Joey Bosa (OSU) or Cameron Heyward (OSU)
98 - Pepper Johnson (OSU)
99 - Bill Willis (OSU)

Some other ideas. Alternatives:
2 - Mike Doss (OSU) - 3-time All-American and returned for his senior season to be the leader of the team that broke a long title drought
7 - Chris Gamble (OSU)
53 - Randy Gradishar (OSU)

Fill-in:
88 - Ben Hartsock (OSU) - not a legend but a key contributor on the national title team

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Any love for Panarin at #9? Only two years here but pretty darn fun while it lasted.

couldnt bring myself to do it

 

[Viqsi]

Andy Katzenmoyer at least deserves a mention, altho he wore #45 and so doesn't stand a chance against Archie. Likewise, Justin Meram would get plastered by the competition at #9. Maybe Santonio Holmes could be in the fight for #4.

And I'd think Mike Conley Jr. deserves a chance at #1. (I'd also suggest #20 Greg Oden, but given how his NBA career went... maybe not so much.)

 

[NotWendell]

Interesting thing I've learned researching this. Futility in professional sports is not a new thing to Columbus.

• The final season of the AFL's Columbus Destroyers in 2019 (1-11 season)
• The AFL's Thunderbolts (0-10 season in 1991).
• The CBA's Columbus Horizon (never posted a winning season).
• The World League of American Football's Ohio Glory DID manage to go 1-9 in their only season (I still remember that game winning field goal!)
• All the way back to the NFL's Columbus Panhandles (0-8 season in 1922) and the NFL's Columbus Tigers (0-9 season in 1925).

 

[NotWendell]

Since someone mentioned him, enjoy Art Schliester of the Detroit Drive vs. Major Harris of the Columbus Thunderbolts from the old barn on the Fairgrounds. Note the title of the video - even THEN, Canada didn't respect Columbus! (Major Harris turned the ball over twice in the time it took to type this.)

 

[NotWendell]

Columbus Destroyers QB Matt Nagy (jersey #1) led the team to a conference championship and an appearance in the ArenaBowl in 2007. If the name sounds familiar, he's now head coach of the Chicago Bears.