Green Bay’s No. 8 has been worn by a long list of players, but the choice for the best of the bunch comes down to a kicker who left his mark in a big way. Ryan Longwell is the pick here, edging out other Packers Hall of Famers Andy Uram and Bob Forte, while Josh Jacobs is ruled out immediately.
The full list of Packers to wear No. 8 includes Tim Boyle, Mark Brunell, Sean Clifford, Anthony Dilweg, Bob Forte, Moose Gardner, Josh Jacobs, Bob Kahler, Walt LeJeune, Ryan Longwell, Tim Masthay, Russ Mosley, Ray Pelfrey, Amari Rodgers, Andy Uram, Justin Vogel and Max Zendejas.
Brunell would be in the conversation if this were about the best player ever to wear No. 8 for any NFL team. A three-time Pro Bowler, he’s regarded as one of the five best left-handed quarterbacks of all time. But his Packers stint was brief and forgettable in this context: two years as Brett Favre’s backup, 27 regular-season pass attempts, and then on to success with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Longwell, though, built a real Packers résumé. A two-time All-Pac-10 selection at Cal-Berkeley, he went undrafted in 1997, signed with the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent, was waived in July, and then was picked up by Green Bay the very next day.
At the time, the Packers had already used a third-round pick on Penn State’s Brett Conway after moving on from longtime kicker Chris Jacke. But Conway struggled in the preseason and then suffered a quadriceps injury while trying to correct the issue, and Longwell won the job. He never gave it back, staying with the team through the 2005 season.
Over nine seasons in Green Bay, Longwell made 226 of 277 field goals and 376 of 380 extra points. When he left, his 1,054 points were the most in franchise history.
That mark has since been passed by Mason Crosby, who finished with 1,918 points in 16 seasons, but Longwell still ranks second. He also holds the edge in accuracy, with a better field-goal percentage, 81.6 to 81.4, and a better extra-point percentage, 98.9 to 97.3.
After leaving Green Bay, Longwell played six seasons for the Minnesota Vikings, then finished his career with one postseason game for the Seattle Seahawks at the end of the 2012 season. Green Bay announced in August 2013 that he would retire as a Packer, and he was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2018.
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