Best Players to Wear #97 in NFL History

It is officially 97 days until the official kickoff of the 2022 NFL season! As our official countdown here on FlurrySports, we will be releasing the best players to ever wear the jersey number of the number of days remaining. Follow along to keep track of how many days until the NFL season, and share who YOU think the best player to ever wear that jersey number is! Click here to see the best NFL players from yesterday.

With 97 days until the 2022 NFL season, we give you the best NFL players to wear #97. Of course, some of the all-time greats at this number will still be playing this season. They have the ability to continue rising up the list! The official ranking of these players is based on the Approximate Value (AV) from Pro Football Reference.

Without further ado, here are the all-time best players to wear #97 in NFL history.

Credit: John Medina/NFLPhotoLibrary

Best Players to Wear 97 in NFL History

1) Bryant Young, DL (1994-2007)

NFL Draft: 1994, Round 1, Pick 7 to the San Francisco 49ers

Hall of Fame

4x Pro Bowl | 1x All-Pro

Super Bowl Champion (XXIX)

627 Tackles, 89.5 Sacks, 93 Tackles for Loss

NFL Record for most safeties in a season (2).

2) La'Roi Glover, DT (1997-2008)

NFL Draft: 1996, Round 5, Pick 166 to the Oakland Raiders

6x Pro Bowl | 1x All-Pro

557 Tackles, 83.5 Sacks, 93 Tackles For Loss

3) Geno Atkins, DT (2010-20)

NFL Draft: 2010, Round 4, Pick 120 to the Cincinnati Bengals

8x Pro Bowl | 2x All-Pro

384 Tackles, 75.5 Sacks, 100 Tackles For Loss

4) Cameron Heyward, DL (2011-Present)

NFL Draft: 2011, Round 1, Pick 31 to the Pittsburgh Steelers

5x Pro Bowl | 3x All-Pro

540 Tackles, 68 Sacks, 101 Tackles For Loss

5) Simeon Rice, DE (1997-2007)

NFL Draft: 1996, Round 1, Pick 3 to the Arizona Cardinals

3x Pro Bowl | 1x All-Pro

Super Bowl Champion (XXXVII)

483 Tackles, 122 Sacks, 93 Tackles For Loss, 28 Forced Fumbles