LA Rams’ rafters: Why are those jersey numbers retired?

LB Youngblood

Last but by no means least among the Rams retired jerseys is that once worn and now retired jersey number 85 belongs to defensive end/ edge rusher Jack Youngblood, who might just be best known as “the man who played football with a broken leg.” (In the 1979 and 1980 playoffs, he played with a fractured left fibula). That cemented his reputation as one of the toughest players to ever suit up. His toughness was legendary.

As a defensive end for the Rams for 14 seasons during the 1970s and 1980s,  he was a five-time consensus All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001 along with fellow Rams teammate Jackie Slater.

He played as the defensive end for the team for over a decade.

Hall of Fame  coach John Madden once dubbed Youngblood as the “John Wayne of football.”

In the 1979 season, he secured a career-high score of 18 sacks and was on the First-Team All-Pro for the fifth time. Just before the 1981 season, he underwent emergency surgery to remove a huge (hot dog-sized) blood clot from under his left arm, resulting in restricted blood flow. Nevertheless, he was unstoppable, and he continued to play in 201 consecutive games, a Rams-franchise team record.

In his 14-year NFL career, he missed only one game. It was in week 15 of the 1984 season, at a time when he had suffered a ruptured disc in his lower back just 2 weeks earlier. Despite the injury, he played in the season finale.

He was toughness personified.

From 1977 to 1984, Jack served as the defensive captain for the Rams and won the Dan Reeves award as the team’s most valuable player three times.  He was also honored with the 1984 Ed Block Courage Award.

He was a five-time consensus All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Before playing professionally, Youngblood played college football for the University of Florida and was recognized as an All-American. He is considered among the best players Florida ever produced—a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and one of only six Florida Gators to be named to the Gator Football Ring of Honor.

After retiring as a player in 1985, Youngblood worked in the Rams’ front office until 1991. He also served the Rams’ radio network’s color analyst from 1986 to 1991.

In 2014, he founded the Jack Youngblood Center for NeuroEnhancement in Orlando, Florida, a center to treat traumatic brain injuries.

Given the current pace that LA Rams DT Aaron Donald is currently on – Pro Bowler and Defensive Rookie of the Year in his debut season;  first-team All-Pro for the next six consecutive years and named as Defensive Player of the Year three times – jersey No. 99 could soon be the next one to join this elite group as its ninth distinguished member.