Scanning the sports news in the past week, I learned that there is a bit of controversy developing in Indianapolis after the Colts acquired Philadelphia quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz has worn the Number 11 as a member of the Eagles, but it appears that No. 11 won’t be available to him in Indy, at least if Michael Pittman has anything to say about the matter. Pittman has been wearing that number with the Colts and doesn’t want to relinquish it to Wentz.

I don’t know how this will play out, but it got me to thinking back to long, long ago when I was playing high school basketball up in North Central Kansas. The coach was passing out jerseys to those of us on the ‘B’ team and I was given No. 13. That pleased me immensely as it was the number that Wilt Chamberlain was wearing at KU. But another player began to raise a ruckus. He wanted “13” because that had been the number his Dad had worn in high school. Knowing how old our equipment was, it very well may have been the very same uniform. The coach just looked at me and I knew that the right thing to do was to relinquish “13” for whatever other number might come my way. The bottom line was that I was just happy to be a uniform recipient. What came my way was No. 9, a number that I wore with pride, even though the word “Tigers” and the numeral itself looked like someone’s mother had put too much bleach on it.

The next season I graduated to an “A” team uniform and wore No. 31. The equipment was brand new and had suffered no obvious bleach mishaps and I felt I had really arrived.

But the discussion about Wentz and Pittman also got me to thinking in another vein. What are some of the more famous numbers worn by athletes through the years? I’ve already mentioned Chamberlain and 13. Another wellknown number was “7” worn by Oklahoma native Mickey Man tle. Babe Ruth wore No. 3, Lou Gehrig No. 4 and Henry Aaron No. 44. I departed my thoughts and went to the internet to find out more. I found a site at New Arena which listed the most famous athletes to wear each number from 00 to 99.

Here is the listing as the site presents it: (I may omit several of whose names I had never heard--this is my space and I can do that).

00-- Jim Otto, Oakland Raiders, center

0- Russell Westbrook, one time OKC Thunder star

1-- Oscar Robertson, NBA hall of famer

2-- Moses Malone, another NBA hall of famer

3-- Babe Ruth, Yankee, immortal

4-- Lou Gehrig, another Yankee immortal

5- Joe DiMaggio, yet another Yankee immortal and “Here’s to You Mrs. Robinson” star

7-- Mickey Mantle, Yankee great from Commerce

8-- Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

9--Gordie Howe, longtime NHL great

12-- Tom Brady, quarterback who has won a disgusting number of Super Bowls

13—Wilt Chamberlain

14-- Pete Rose, great hitter

who may never get to the Hall of Fame

15-- Bart Starr, standout Green Bay quarterback (also the number of Patrick Mahomes, current Chiefs quarterback)

16-- Joe Montana, another old time great quarterback

18-- Peyton Manning, Colts and Broncos great

19-- Tony Gwynn, San Diego Padres great hitting star

20-- Barry Sanders of Detroit Lions (We know him as an Oklahoma State star)

23-- Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, perhaps the greatest ever in the NBA

24-- Willie Mays of the Giants

25-- Barry Bonds of the Giants

26-- Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox

27-- Mike Trout, currently of the Los Angeles Angels

29-- Satchel Paige, perhaps the greatest pitcher of any era

30-- Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors

31-- Greg Maddux, a great pitcher for the Cubs and Braves

32-- Magic Johnson, one of the greatest Lakers ever

33-- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, same as above

34-- Shaquille O’Neal, same as the last two

35-- Kevin Durant, who left OKC for greener pastures

36-- Gaylord Perry, greatest spit ball pitcher in recent years

37-- Doak Walker, 1948 Heisman Trophy winner

40-- Gale Sayers, who starred as a Chicago Bear and before that as a Kansas Jayhawk

42-- Jackie Robinson, who broke the racial barrier in baseball. This number has been retired by all baseball teams.

44-- Hank Aaron, greatest home run hitter before Barry Bonds.

47-- Mel Blount, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive standout

49-- Ron Guidry, former Yankees pitcher

51-- Randy Johnson, 6-foot- 8 hard throwing left handed pitcher for a bunch of teams. Known as the “Big Unit.”

53-- Don Drysdale, one of better Dodgers pitchers

56-- Lawrence Taylor, New York Giants, some have dubbed him “Best defensive player of all time.”

58-- Jack Lambert, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker during the team’s glory years.

59-- Jack Ham, another standout linebacker for the Steelers. 60-- Otto Graham, Cleveland Browns quarterback way back when.

63-- Gene Upshaw, Oakland Raiders offensive lineman. Former OU Sooner Lee Roy Selmon also wore this number.

64-- Jerry Kramer, Green Bay offensive lineman. Terrific blocker.

72-- Carlton Fisk, Red Sox and White Sox catcher.

75-- “Mean” Joe Green, Pittsburgh Steelers lineman and Pepsi Cola pitchman

76-- Lou Groza, one of best old timey kickers.

80-- Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers. Perhaps the best receiver in NFL history.

82-- Raymond Berry, one of the best receivers on the Baltimore Colts of the Johnny Unitas era.

83-- Ted Hendricks, Oakland Raiders linebacker who was known as the Mad Stork due to his height.

89-- Mike Ditka, tight end for the Chicago Bears.

99-- Wayne Gretzky, the greatest NHL player ever.

There’s the list. As I said I would, I left out some of the numbers either because I felt that the ones nominated weren’t of the quality of some of the others or I just hadn’t heard of them.

Some of the numbers I have alternate suggestions. For example, at No. 8, I can’t dispute that Kobe Bryant is worth mention, but I like to think of No. 8 as being the number of Yogi Berra, the lovable New York Yankee catcher. For No. 9 I can’t dispute Gordie Howe, who deserves mention in any list of great athletes. But that number (besides being mine so many, many years ago) was also the number of Ted Williams, who just may have been the greatest hitter ever to play the game of baseball. LeBron James is not on this list, because he wears 23 and that uniform belongs to Michael Jordan. But there is no question James is a predominant star. As in any list, there is room for argument.

Well, I don’t want to weigh in on who deserves No. 11 on next year’s Indianapolis Colts team. I sympathize with Mr. Pittman, because he is being threatened with losing his number. I certainly know how that feels. At least if he changes to another, he won’t have bleach stains on his uniform.