The Green Bay Packers’ No. 58 comes with some serious draft-class weight behind it. That number belongs to Dan Currie, the first player selected in Green Bay’s celebrated 1958 draft haul - a class many still point to as one of the best in NFL history.
Currie is the headliner, but he’s not the only name to have worn 58 in Green Bay. The list includes Sam Barrington, Bruce Beekley, Tom Bettis, Mark Cannon, Joe Carter, Mark Cooney, Mike Flanagan, Ruffin Hamilton, Don Hansen, Danny Johnson, Warren Kilbourne, Christian Kirksey, Joe Kurth, Bob Lally, Danny Lansanah, Larry Lauer, Bob McCaffrey, Isaiah McDuffie, Ed Neal, Baby Ray, Larry Rubens, Paul Rudzinski, Ade Schwammel, Champ Seibold, Steve Stewart, Ben Taylor, Clayton Tonnemaker, Jordan Tripp, Francis Winkler, Cal Withrow and Frank Zombo.
A couple of others deserve a nod. Baby Ray, a Packers Hall of Fame tackle, wore No. 58 for one season in 1940 even though he spent most of his 11-year run in Green Bay from 1938 to 1948 in No.
- Mike Flanagan also made his mark in the number, anchoring the Packers’ offensive line for eight seasons from 1998 to 2005 and making the Pro Bowl in 2003.
Still, Currie is the clear choice. Green Bay took the Michigan State linebacker third overall in the first round of the 1958 NFL Draft, and the rest of that class turned into a monster.
In Round 2, the Packers grabbed fullback Jim Taylor at No. 15 overall. In Round 3, they landed linebacker Ray Nitschke at No. 36 overall, while also taking halfback Dick Christy at No. 27 overall before trading him to the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of his rookie season.
Then in Round 4, Green Bay added guard Jerry Kramer at No. 39 overall.
Taylor, Nitschke and Kramer all ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Taylor still sits second in Packers history with 8,207 rushing yards and first with 81 rushing touchdowns.
Kramer earned First-Team All-Pro honors five times and even handled kicking duties at times. Nitschke became one of the most feared linebackers in the game, but Currie actually got off to the better start in Green Bay.
As a rookie, Currie saw more action under Ray McLean, then locked down a starting job when Vince Lombardi arrived in 1959. Nitschke didn’t start every game in a season until 1962.
Lombardi’s view of the 1958 film says plenty about where Currie stood, too. After watching it, he said the only three players he considered indispensable were All-Pro center Jim Ringo, All-Pro safety Bobby Dillon and Currie.
Currie kept delivering once Lombardi’s Packers got rolling. He made the Pro Bowl in 1960 as Green Bay reached the NFL Championship, then played a key role in the defense that brought the franchise its first title in 17 years in 1961. In 1962, he earned First-Team All-Pro honors and helped the Packers capture back-to-back championships, including a 16-7 win over the New York Giants in which he recorded an interception and a forced fumble.
That season also brought the injury that changed the rest of his career. Currie was blindsided by Tommy McDonald and suffered a knee injury that lingered.
He still earned Second-Team All-Pro honors in 1963, but 1964 became his final season in Green Bay. The Packers traded him to the Los Angeles Rams, where he played two seasons before being released and ending his career.
Currie never reached Canton like Taylor, Nitschke and Kramer, and he missed the Packers’ three straight NFL Championships from 1965 to 1967. But his place in team history is secure. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1984.
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