Marshall, Moss among players deemed best in NFL history to wear their numbers

Over the years, the Minnesota Vikings have fielded a number of players that rank among the greatest in the history of the National Football League. One website has put together a list of the greatest players in league history to wear their respective jersey numbers, and six prominent members of the purple made the list.

In numerical order, the six Vikings that made the list were:

• Fran Tarkenton - #10
• Randall McDaniel - #64
• Jared Allen - #69
• Jim Marshall - #70
• Randy Moss - #84
• John Randle - #93

If you’re scoring at home, that’s four Hall of Famers, one that likely will be a Hall of Famer, and one that should have been in the Hall of Fame a long damn time ago.

There were a few other players with ties to the Vikings that made the list as well, but the six listed above are the ones that are primarily known for their time in Minnesota.

Whenever lists like this one pop up, I’m always disappointed to not see Alan Page on the list representing #88. This time, however, the folks from The Raiders Wire at least had the decency to put Tony Gonzalez on the list at #88 instead of Michael Irvin. Given the standing that Gonzalez has among tight ends in the history of the National Football League, that’s a selection that’s at least defensible.

I mean, I’d still put Page there instead, but I’m way biased so I’m probably not the person to ask.

If any of the current members of the Vikings are going to make this list, they’ve got their work cut out for them, as many of them have pretty significant figures in NFL history in their way. If safety Harrison Smith wants to make the list at #22, he’s going to have to overtake the NFL’s all-time leading rusher in Emmitt Smith, which would seem to be a tall order.

Defensive end Danielle Hunter, who is still projecting upwards at this stage of his career, could have a real chance to overtake Hall of Famer Warren Sapp for #99 if he can keep up the level of production we’ve seen from him in the early stages of his career, but there’s a long way to go there yet.

Looking at the list that The Raiders Wire has provided, are there any Vikings that you think should be on the list that were left off?

(Hat tip to The Vikings Wire, who saw this one before we did.)