DeVante Parker enjoyed a breakout season in 2019. — Steve Mitchell

Number 11 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

We're now 11 days away from the start of the NFL regular season, so we honor the best players who have worn that number for the Miami Dolphins

Author:
Alain Poupart
Updated:
Aug 28, 2022 11:08 AM EDT
Original:
Aug 28, 2022

In this story:

Miami Dolphins

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 11.

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.

The top players at each number so far have been:

99. DE/LB Jason Taylor; 98. DL Jared Odrick; 97. DT Jordan Phillips; 96. DT Paul Soliai; 95. DT Tim Bowens; 94. DT Randy Starks; 93. DE Trace Armstrong; 92. LS John Denney; 91. DE/LB Cameron Wake; 90. DE/LB Marco Coleman

89. WR Nat Moore; 88. TE Keith Jackson; 87. TE Andre Tillman; 86. WR Oronde Gadsden; 85. LB Nick Buoniconti; 84. DE Bill Stanfill; 83. WR Mark Clayton; 82. WR Brian Hartline; 81. WR O.J. McDuffie; 80. WR Irving Fryar

79. T Jon Giesler; 78. T Richmond Webb; 77. DE/LB A.J. Duhe; 76. T Branden Albert; 75. DT Manny Fernandez; 74. T Mark Dennis; 73. DT Bob Baumhower; 72. DT Bob Heinz; 71. T Todd Wade; 70. DE Kendall Langford

69. G Keith Sims; 68. T Eric Laakso; 67. G/T Bob Kuechenberg; 66. G Larry Little; 65. OL Jeff Dellenbach; 64. G Ed Newman; 63. G/T Mark Dixon; 62. C Jim Langer; 61. C Tim Ruddy; 60. G Bert Weidner

59. LB Doug Swift; 58. DE-LB Kim Bokamper; 57. C Dwight Stephenson; 56. LB John Offerdahl; 55. Earnie Rhone; 54. Zach Thomas; 53. LB Bob Matheson; 52. LB Channing Crowder; 51. LB Bryan Cox; 50. LB Larry Gordon

49. CB William Judson; 48. CB Gerald Small; 47. S Glenn Blackwood; 46. S Don Bessillieu; 45. CB Curtis Johnson; 44. CB Paul Lankford; 43. S Bud Brown; 42. WR Paul Warfield; 41. FB Keith Byars; 40. S Dick Anderson

39. FB Larry Csonka; 38. DB Calvin Jackson; 37. CB J.B. Brown; 36. FB Don Nottingham; 35. DB Walt Aikens; 34. RB Ricky Williams; 33. RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar; 32. RB Kenyan Drake; 31. S Brock Marion; 30. RB Bernie Parmalee

29. CB Sam Madison; 28. CB Don McNeal; 27. CB Terrell Buckley; 26. S Jarvis Williams; 25. CB Xavien Howard; 24. RB Delvin Williams; 23. Patrick Surtain; 22. RB Tony Nathan; 21. RB Jim Kiick; 20. S Reshad Jones

19. WR-KR Ted Ginn Jr.; 18. WR Rishard Matthews; 17. QB Ryan Tannehill; 16. QB David Woodley; 15. QB Earl Morrall; 14. WR Jarvis Landry; 13. QB Dan Marino; 12. QB Bob Griese

Players who wore 11 for at least one regular season game:

QB Rick Norton (1966-69), QB Jim Del Gaizo (1972), QB-TE-WR Jim Jensen (1981-92), QB Dan McGwire (1995), QB Damon Huard (1997-2000), K Bill Gramatica (2004), QB Gus Frerotte (2005), WR Julius Pruitt (2011), WR Mike Wallace (2013-14), WR DeVante Parker (2015-21)

The breakdown of 11 with the Dolphins

After having only two players to wear 13 and only one with 12, we've now got 10 players who have worn 11 for the Dolphins, including five for more than one season.

• Rick Norton was one of the four quarterbacks who started games for the Dolphins in 1966 and he went 0-2 with three touchdowns and six interceptions. He went make 11 starts in four seasons, going 1-10.

• Jim Del Gaizo appeared in four games as a backup during the perfect season of 1972, but he attempted only nine passes. He was 4-for-6 for 145 yards and two touchdowns in a 52-0 victory against New England that season. He was traded to Green Bay the following summer for two second-round picks.

• Jim Jensen, remembered fondly as "Crash" by Dolphins fans, was an 11th-round pick in the 1981 draft who went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL, all for Miami. Though he started only 10 games, Jensen filled a wide variety of roles at multiple positions. Among other things, he attempted seven career passes and completed four of them for 102 yards and two touchdowns for a marvelous 141.4 passer rating.

• Dan McGwire, the younger brother of baseball star Mark McGwire and a former first-round pick of the Seahawks, stood out because of his height (6-8), but never panned out in the NFL. For the Dolphins, he appeared in one game and missed on his only pass attempt.

• Damon Huard was the main backup in Dan Marino's final season in 1999 and his ability to go 4-1 while Marino was sidelined helped the Dolphins make the playoffs. Huard started one game in 2000 after losing the battle for the chance to succeed Marino to Jay Fiedler.

• Bill Gramatica's one game with the Dolphins happened to be the last one for Dave Wannstedt as Miami head. Gramatica was 2-for-2 on field goals that day, but he missed an extra point and that proved the difference in a 24-23 loss.

• Gus Frerotte holds a unique place in Dolphins history because he was 9-6 as a starter in Nick Saban's first season in 2005, but Saban still felt the need for an upgrade the following offseason, which led to the whole Brees/Culpepper fiasco. Frerotte's numbers certainly weren't special in 2005 as he completed only 52 percent of his passes and had a mediocre 71.9 passer rating.

• Julius Pruitt out of Ouachita Baptist played in nine games for the Dolphins but never caught a pass.

• Mike Wallace signed a huge free agent deal to join the Dolphins in 2013 and that contract is how he was gauged for his time in Miami. The truth is that Wallace was productive catching 73 and 67 passes in his two seasons and scoring 10 touchdowns in 2014. The problem was that Wallace never could duplicate his numbers from his time in Pittsburgh, though a big reason was that he didn't have Ben Roethlisberger throwing him the ball any longer.

• Now we get to DeVante Parker, who was traded to New Englandin the offseason after never really living up to his status as the 14th overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft. Parker did have a memorable season in 2019 when he led all AFC wide receivers in receiving yards (1,202) and touchdowns (9), but his time in Miami will be remembered more for all the injuries that slowed him down.