#98 is not a number that has been wore that often or with much distinction. There are no Hall of Famers who wore this number, none of the all-time greats. The greatest #98 in my opinion is 1940 Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon from the University of Michigan. The greatest football player in the history of that school.

Some of the honorable mentions who wore that number are all football players. All good but not great football players. Sam Adams, Julian Peterson, Tony Siragusa, Jesse Armstead, Eric Swann and current Pittsburgh Steeler Casey Hampton. All were fine defensive football players.

The greatest athlete to wear #98 is Tom Harmon. Harmon played three years at the University of Michigan. He was a tailback in the single wing formation and was also the teams kicker. Harmon rushed for 2134 yards during his career and threw passes for 1304 yards and 16 touchdowns. He scored 237 points in his career.

In his final football game at Ohio State Harmon led the Wolverines to a 40-0 victory. He ran for 3 touchdowns and passed for 2 more and kicked 4 extra points. His day wasn’t over though, on defense he intercepted three passes and punted the ball three times for an average of 50 yards. You should never say that something will never happen again but I am willing to bet this won’t happen again. After the game the Ohio State fans gave Harmon a standing ovation. No other Michigan Wolverine player has been so honored, before or since. He won the Heisman his senior year.

Harmon also led the nation in scoring two seasons in a row- 1939 and 1940. No one else has accomplished that.In 2007 Tom Harmon was named the 16th greatest college football player in history by ESPN. Tom Harmon’s son Mark played quarterback at UCLA but is best known for playing the role of Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the highly rated television show NCIS.