Number 63 and the Three Dolphins Who Wore It Best

We're now 63 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

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 63.

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 63 for at least one regular season game for the Dolphins:

G Billy Neighbors (1966-69), C-G Mark Dennard (1979-83), G Larry Lee (1985), C Greg Ours (1987), C Jeff Uhlenhake (1989-93), C Cal Dixon (1996), G-T Mark Dixon (1998-2002), C Alonzo Ephraim (2005), G Bennie Anderson (2006), G Gene Mruczkowski (2007), T Andrew Gardner (2009), G-T Dallas Thomas (2014-16), C/G Michael Deiter (2019-21)

The breakdown of 63 with the Dolphins

The Dolphins have not had a player make the Pro Bowl wearing number 63, and nobody wore that number for more than five seasons. So the choice here came down to a handful of offensive linemen who gave the Dolphins solid production as starters. Billy Neighbors started 43 games at guard in the Dolphins' first four seasons after coming over in the expansion draft from Boston Patriots, for whom he had been an All-AFL selection in 1964. Jeff Uhlenhake started 59 games at center for the Dolphins before he left for New Orleans as a free agent and started 53 games for the Saints. Mark Dixon joined the Dolphins in 1998 after stint in NFL Europe and the Canadian Football League and earned a starting job as a 27-year-old NFL rookie. He ended up starting 60 of the 62 games he played for the Dolphins, including 12 at left tackle in 2002 when Ricky Williams led the NFL in rushing with a team-record 1,853 yards. Dallas Thomas started 26 games at right tackle and right guard for the Dolphins after switching from 70 to 63 in his second season in 2014, but he was released early in the 2016 season.

Worth noting

Mark Dennard started at center until he was replaced by future Hall of Famer Dwight Stephenson. ... Greg Ours started the three strike-replacement games of 1987 but didn't play another game in the NFL,  either before or after. ... Cal Dixon joined the Dolphins as a free agent in 1996 after starting 12 games for the Jets the previous year, but he was a backup for all 11 games in his one season in Miami, which ended up being his final one in the NFL. ... Bennie Anderson joined the Dolphins after starting 70 games with the Ravens and Bills in his first five NFL seasons, but he lasted only two games in Miami before landing on IR with a triceps injury and never played another down in the NFL. ... Andrew Gardner was a Dolphins sixth-round pick in 2009 who played one game for Miami as a rookie, but then went on to appear in at least one game each of the next six seasons, with his most playing time coming with the Eagles in 2014 when he played every game and made eight starts.

The top three Dolphins players with number 63

1. G-T Mark Dixon

2. C Jeff Uhlenhake

3. G Billy Neighbors

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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.

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