'The Numbers Game': Which Cowboys and Other DFW Sports Stars 'Wore It Best'?

It's One of Our Favorite Parlor Games: 'The Numbers Game.' One Jersey Number for One Standout. Which Cowboys 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