The true Giants legacy with the #0

Don't believe everything you read on the internet (and other places)!

Yesterday's announcement that Paris Campbell would wear the newly released number 0 stirred a flurry of misinformation yesterday, and I'd like to clear it up once and for all (and check another of my pet peeves off the list).

Depending on where you get your information from, you may be under the misconception that Campbell will be the first Giant player to wear the #0 since 1945.

This is not true.

Willis Smith, the diminutive back of the 1934 World Champion Giants, was the last Giant to do so.

Before I lay out the evidence of my fact-finding mission, here's a little number history of the early Giants.

Long before pro football's first numbering system was implemented (the 1946 AAFC) numbering was up to each individual team and mostly random. While players routinely wore low numbers ranging from #1 through the 20s, it was mostly random and anybody could pretty much wear whatever they wanted.

The Giants had a unique quirk to their issuance of a couple of numbers in the 1920s and early 1930s.

First, the #1 was bestowed upon players that were thought to have some star quality and gate attraction. The #1 was worn by Hinkey Haines in 1925, Jack McBride 1926-28, Benny Friedman 1929-31 and Ray Flaherty 1932-35. After Flaherty playing career ended the Giants retired the #1 in his honor, and were the first American pro sports team to retire a number for a player [the Toronto Maple Leafs retired #6 for Ace Bailey in 1934].

In 1946 the Giants unretired the #1 for the final two seasons of longtime stalwart, team captain and Steve Owen favorite Frank Cope. No Giants has worn #1 since Cope in 1947.

The #0 has a slightly different, though no less significant, distinction for New York, somewhat akin to the tongue-in-cheek "Lowsman Trophy" for "Mr. Irrelevant", the last player selected in the college draft.

The #0 was issued to bottom-of-the-roster subs or mid-season acquisitions. The first Giant to wear #0 was Phil White who was signed late in the season. Believe it or not, in his first game he didn't even have a number, he wore a blank jersey! He was issued the #0 for the remainder of the season, and after a tour of duty in the AFL in 1926, wore it again for the full 1927 season with the Giants. White is the only player to wear #0 for more than one season.

Here's the full list of the Giants who wore the #0 with the Giants:

Phil White (Back) 1925, '27
Walt Koppisch (Wingback) 1926
Ox Eckhardt (Fullback) 1928
Hap Moran (Back) 1928
Danny McMullen (Guard) 1929
Ted Bucklin (Guard) 1931
Lee Mulleneaux (Back) 1932
Red Russell (Back) 1933
Willis Smith (Quarterback) 1934

While most of those listed above were marginal players with short careers, Hap Moran was a top-notch performer who enjoyed a productive career in New York. Another late-season pickup, he was given the #0 for his one game with the Giants. For the remainder of this Giants career spanning 1929-33 he wore the more dignified #s 48 & 22.

Willis Smith was a somewhat different case as well. He was more of a luxury player on a deep and talented roster. While a small player, even for the early 1930s, he was fast and possessed some big-play potential. Since this was a single-platoon era and free substitution over 20 in the future, the Giants would put him in the game near the end of a quarter when they had the ball in favorable field position, hoping for a chance at a quick score. Smith's small size (he was typically listed around 145-150lbs) made him too much of a liability to play on defense.



Since Smith's retirement, no Giant has worn the #0.

Here's the evidence from my research:

Pro Football Reference erroneously lists Lou Eaton as having worn #0 for the Giants in 1945.

I have no idea why this is the case, there is plenty of source material showing him as having worn the #70. Given that the site has a lot of traffic, I'm assuming this is where most people get their information - but it is not always accurate. [personal aside, I've made many contributions over the years to PFR regarding early box scores with data I've collected from newspaper archives. I had a great contact there who left a few years ago and the current regime seems uninterested in outside help unfortunately].



the lesser know, but more reliable, Pro Football Archives lists Eaton with his proper #70.



How do we know PFA is correct and PFR in error?

First, the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph wisely printed both teams complete rosters with player numbers the day of the season's first game on 10/7. Eaton is listed with #70.



The next week game, and Eaton's last in the NFL, we see him listed with the #70 in the game program for the Giants contest with the Boston/New York Yanks on 10/14.



Need further proof?

Here's a training camp photo of Eaton wearing the #70 on his jersey, courtesy of the NY Daily News.



Still, I have no doubt that when the season begins and the games are televised commentators here and there are going to make note of players wearing the #0 on the field for the first times since whenever the particular teams playing happened to remove it from circulation.

When its during a Giants game and they say it last happened in 1945, you can impress your friends and family by saying, "no, that's not true! Willis Smith was the last Giant to wear the #0 in 1934!"

;)