It is the highest honor a franchise can bestow upon a player. The Green Bay Packers have done it six times in their storied history with one more most certainly on the way as soon as Aaron Rodgers calls it a career. Retiring a player's number means that the player was one of the best to ever play in that uniform. No one will ever live up to wearing that player's number as a result, so they're just going to put that number in the rafters. Or in the Packers' case, nail it to the side of the stadium wall. I feel though, that the Packers have a much higher bar for this honor than much of the rest of the league. 

The number 14 for Don Hutson, 3 for Tony Canadeo, 15 for Bart Starr, 66 for Ray Nitschke, 92 for Reggie White, and 4 for Brett Favre, are those already retired in Green Bay. Each of those players is regarded as one of the best to have ever played the position, not just for the Packers, but in the NFL in general during their respective eras. And some of them even still rank high among the best to play their position in NFL history. This tends to make me view some of the numbers retired by other teams in the league as a bit unfavorable.  I won't name specific names or teams, but when a team retires the number of a player that I view as just being a "good" not "great" player of that era, I can't help but balk. The Packers' standards are definitely much higher. 

There is little doubt that former Quarterback, Aaron Rodgers deserves to have his number 12 placed among the other six along the Lambeau Field palisades. As soon as Rodgers decides his great career is done, the Packers will probably begin planning the ceremony. But with the seven retired numbers, one may think there could be a time when the Packers will need to stop retiring numbers due to the need for numbers to be placed on active players. So, imagine this time does come right after Aaron Rodgers has his 12 retired, but the Packers announce they will retire one more number of a past player before discontinuing the honor. Who would be the most deserving of the honor who hasn't received it already in the Packers' 105-year history? 

Curly Lambeau's #1

The team's founder and former player was part of the organization for around 31 years. He wore the No. 1 for only two years though, 1925 and 1926. No one wore the number before Lambeau, and no one has worn the number in a regular season matchup since Lambeau. The number is basically unofficially retired. We've seen a few players wear the number in training camp and preseason, but never in any regular season or playoff game. 

You could argue that Lambeau's number should be the last officially retired given his contribution to the team. However, what is Lambeau known for? He's known for founding and coaching the team. Not exactly his playing career. He's enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as mainly a coach and contributor. So, while Lambeau is a legend of the Green Bay Packers, does he deserve a number officially retired? Is there a number retired for Vince Lombardi? No. So, while number 1 remains unofficially retired, it could hit some turbulence on truly fitting the criteria of an official retirement should the question be raised.

Paul Hornung's #5 

Paul Hornung was perhaps the premiere player of Lombardi's Packers. While Bart Starr and Ray Nitschke were certainly legendary anchor points on each side of the ball, Hornung's contributions may have stood just a little above. Many of Hornung's teammates called him the best player on those rosters of legends in the 1960s. Hornung was probably the best all-around running back of his time. Not to mention that Vince Lombardi called him the greatest player he ever coached. 

In July of 1967, after Hornung had called it a career, Vince Lombardi had said at a Packers' press party, that he was retiring Hornung's number 5. He stated that as far as he was concerned, there would never be another number 5 in Green Bay. However, there was some argument about whether or not this was an official retirement or just Lombardi stating that as long as he was there, it wouldn't happen. This stood for a few years until in 1985, Vince Ferragamo wore the number 5, given to him by coach Forrest Gregg who was a teammate of Hornung. Gregg had said that the team maybe needed to revive Hornung's charisma and he was fine with bringing it back. Packers Hall of Famer, Don Majkowski was handed number 5 his rookie season but asked to switch to 7 out of respect for Hornung. 5 was worn only once since then by kicker Curis Burrow for only one game.

The number 5 remains unofficially retired to this day. Players have only worn it in Training Camp or Preseason, never an official game since 1988. Vince Lombardi would probably give his famous "What the hell is going on out there!" quote if he saw the number 5 being worn in Green Bay today as he had seemingly stated that it would never be worn again. I guess whoever made the rules back in the late '60s kind of dropped the ball on making it official. 

Jerry Kramer's #64

What's a quarterback or running back without a great offensive line protecting them? Jerry Kramer was one of, if not the best offensive lineman of the Lombardi era. You can't look at a photo of the famed "Lombardi Sweep" in the 1960s without seeing #64 Jerry Kramer out paving the way for the likes of Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, and Elijah Pitts. He is also credited as being the lineman who made the key block in Bart Starr's famous Ice Bowl sneak. 

It took way too long for Jerry Kramer to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his great career. When you look at the Packers' history since Kramer's retirement, not many notable players have worn the number 64. Whether or not this has been done on purpose would have to be a question for the organization itself, but it would make it a bit easier to retire Kramer's number without a lot of argument. 

Sterling Sharpe's #84

Sterling Sharpe is likely the best receiver the Packers have ever seen that's not named Don Hutson. He was practically unstoppable in his era with his stats only rivaled by the player who could take the cake for being the best receiver of all time, Jerry Rice. Sharpe put up God-like numbers at a time when the Packers weren't very good. And when he got a Quarterback named Brett Favre who could get the ball to him at any time, his numbers reached career highs. Unfortunately for Sharpe, his career was cut short after just seven years and he had to wait until 2025 to finally be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

There is no doubt in my mind that if Sterling Sharpe played perhaps a 12-year career, wrapping up around 2000, he would have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and have been a strong candidate for having his #84 retired in Green Bay. Since Sharpe's departure, there have only been a few notable #84s in Packers' history. Bill Schroeder had his moments but wasn't enough to overshadow Sharpe, and Javon Walker perhaps could have been great had he stuck around Green Bay and not demanded a trade only to have his career flounder outside of Lambeau. So, retiring #84 in honor of Sharpe, could be a feasible option.

Leroy Butler's #36

I've heard a few rumblings about Leroy Butler's 36 being a retirement candidate. Without question, Butler was a pillar of the Packers' teams in the 1990s. He always had a knack for finding the ball and making a play or even coming away with an interception. He was also a bit of a pioneer when it came to versatile Safety's as he was one of the first to be a big blitz threat and concern offenses when it came to keeping their Quarterback upright. Butler could make plays in the passing game but he could also rush the QB and make stops in the running game. Of course, we also have to mention his contribution to the legendary Lambeau Leap being the founder. 

Butler was a great player but his number being retired could meet some challenge due to a #36 that came after him, Nick Collins. Collins was also a great safety that if he had not had his career cut short, may be an easy candidate for Canton today. Perhaps 36 could be one of the first shared number retirements. 

Donald Driver's #80

In his time, Driver was one of the best receivers to ever put on a Packers jersey. Driver retired from the Packers as their career leader in receptions and also their career leader in receiving yards. Driver always played with a lot of intensity and a lot of passion. Not to mention that if you look at a list of Packers' players of the last 25 years, I have little doubt that Donald Driver might win a contest for the most popular, or most beloved. 

Like Leroy Butler, Driver has another player who wore the Green and Gold that may stand in his way of number retirement. That would be James Lofton who also wore the #80 and may have been a better receiver than Driver career-wise. Lofton was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but Driver is still waiting on whether he will have his chance. Like I said with Leroy Butler and Nick Collins, maybe it could be a shared number retirement. But if not, if there were a player that would be deserving of a number retirement due to how beloved he his by the fans, it would be Donald Driver. 

My Final Answer

If it were up to me personally, I would retire Paul Hornung's #5. As stated before, he may have been the best player on his team in his era, and that's saying a lot for the number of Pro Football Hall of Famers on those rosters. Also, if Vince Lombardi wished his number to be retired, it should have happened. Instead of it being "unofficially retired" we should just retire it officially.