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From left to right: Lawrence McCutcheon, Dennis Harrah, LeRoy Irvin, Vince Ferragamo, and Jackie Slater. (Photo by Kyle Evers)

By Joe Torosian

Because the NFL designates specific numbers for specific positions it’s become impossible for teams to honor all of its great players, thus rings of honor were born.

Personally I would have retired Billy Waddy’s number 80 after his game winning touchdown catch at Dallas in the 1979 playoffs, but I was more than happy to have both Henry Ellard and Isaac Bruce use it for a while.

I’m not a numerology guy, but some numbers give off a bad vibe. For instance I’m really hoping the best for Nick Foles at quarterback. First year with the team and he’s wearing number 5.

Number 5, the same number 5 that Dieter Brock war exactly 30 years ago in 1985. Talk about fright night.

At the top of this column we’ve got a picture of Lawrence McCutcheon, “Sir Lawrence of Los Angeles”, holding up his number 30. First round draft pick Todd Gurley has been assigned number 30. So I feel good about that.

At receiver Brian Quick is wearing number 83…and so did Flipper Anderson. Anderson, probably the best of the players taken in the draft after the Eric Dickerson trade, had back to back thousand yard receiving seasons for the Rams in 1988-1989. He also averaged 26 and 21-yards per catch in those respective years.

Quick is the only Rams receiver, currently on the roster, with a number between 80-89.

Also above you see Dennis Harrah holding his number 60. Harrah was taken as the 11th overall pick in the 1975 draft and played in six Pro Bowls, was an anchor at right guard for 13 years. The Rams made the playoffs 10 of those years. McCutcheon, Wendell Tyler, Eric Dickerson, and Charles White were all 1,000 yard rushers with him plowing the road. Dickerson got to the hall thanks in part to 47 Gap and 49 Pitch…and Dennis Harrah.

So with all of that, it is troubling to see number 60 on the back of back up right guard Travis Bond.

I think I’m okay with Ethan Westbrooks wearing Doug Reed’s number 93, and James Laurinaitis is a perfect fit for Carl Ekern’s number 55. It’s a bit of a struggle though to see Jo-Lonn Dunbar wearing Isaiah Robertson’s number 58.

…And every time I see Alec Ogletree in his number 52 I think of Rick Kay.

Cornerback Marcus Roberson wears number 47 and is almost the exact same size as another former Rams corner named LeRoy Irvin (pictured above).

We can play this game all day, but I’ll leave with this last bit of Rams trivia. When I was a kid and I wanted to remember a phone number I did it with players. For instance 5-Ekern-Brooks-Bryant…meant I would dial 555-9032…4-Elmendorf-Rogers-McLain…meant I would dial 442-5750…If I wanted to dial the time it would be either Youngblood-3-Harris-Harris…or…8-Youngblood-Harris-Harris…Which was 853-1212.

Nerdish? Absolutely!

Yet, when you were a Rams fan…You really were a Rams fan.