No. 26 doesn’t require much debate for the Green Bay Packers.
A long list of players has worn the number in Green Bay, including Herb Adderley, Corey Ballentine, Josh Bell, Johnny Blood, Bashaud Breeland, Jim Capuzzi, Chuck Cecil, Mark Collins, Gib Dawson, Ken Gorgal, DuJuan Harris, Arnie Herber, Jason Horton, Craig Jay, Bill Kelley, Tim Lewis, Damien Martinez, Lindy Pearson, Charlie Peprah, Claude Perry, Micah Robinson, Darnell Savage Jr., Lyle Sturgeon, Erwin Swiney, Darrell Thompson, Eric Torkelson, Clyde Van Sickle, Ward Walsh and Herb Waters.
Johnny Blood and Arnie Herber both deserved a look, since each is in the Packers Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But both wore No. 26 only briefly - Blood in 1929-30 and Herber in 1931 - which leaves Herb Adderley as the clear choice.
Adderley wore No. 26 for his entire nine-year run with the Packers in the 1960s, and his résumé is as strong as it gets. A two-time All-Big Ten selection as a halfback at Michigan State, he was drafted by Green Bay in the first round of the 1961 NFL Draft with the 12th overall pick.
He entered the league on offense, but with Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor already in the backfield, his path to snaps at halfback was blocked. Vince Lombardi, acting on the recommendation of safety Emlen Tunnell, moved Adderley to cornerback, and the switch changed everything.
His first game at the position came on Thanksgiving Day against the Detroit Lions in 1961, and he made an immediate impact. His first career interception helped set up a game-winning touchdown by Taylor.
His second pick came against Y.A. Tittle in the Packers’ 37-0 win over the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game.
From there, Adderley kept stacking up honors. Over the next six seasons, he made six Pro Bowls and earned six All-Pro selections, including four First Team nods and two Second Team honors. He also intercepted 30 passes in that span, and six of those picks went back for touchdowns.
His postseason work added to the legend. He had three playoff interceptions in his career, and the final two came in games that still stand out.
In the Ice Bowl at Lambeau Field, Adderley had the only interception in the game. Two weeks later in Miami against the then-Oakland Raiders, he made the first pick-6 in Super Bowl history by taking a Daryle Lamonica pass 60 yards for a touchdown in a 33-7 Packers win.
Adderley added a fifth First-Team All-Pro selection in 1969, then left Green Bay in 1970 after not getting along with Lombardi’s replacement, Phil Bengtson. He was traded to the Cowboys, played three seasons there, appeared in two more Super Bowls and won one before retiring in 1973.
In nine seasons with the Packers, Adderley finished with 39 regular-season interceptions, still third in franchise history behind Bobby Dillon’s 52 and Willie Wood’s 48. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Packers Hall of Fame in 1981.
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