The Green Bay Packers will kickoff their 2023 season 72 days from now against the Chicago Bears. In celebration of a new era of Packers football and in anticipation for the upcoming season, Wisconsin Sports Heroics will present the top 100 players in franchise history in the 100 days leading up to the start of the regular season. Our rankings are based on Pro Football References Approximate Value stat, which gives a numeric value to each season a player plays in.
Green Bay Packers Greatest Player #72: Ezra Johnson
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A first round pick (28th overall selection) by the Packers in the 1977 NFL Draft, Ezra Johnson enjoyed a long but sometimes tumultuous career with Green Bay. Despite being a starter for multiple seasons, he was relegated to a bench role in 1981 and head coach Bart Starr fined him for partying at one point.
In any case, Johnson was still a productive pass rusher for the Packers for 11 years. In 1978, his second year in the NFL, he had a career-high 17.5 sacks. That total trails only Tim Harris’ 19.5 sacks in 1989 as the most in a single season in franchise history.
Over the course of his 11 years with Green Bay, Johnson amassed 82.0 sacks, the third most in franchise history. He trails only Clay Matthews (83.5) and Willie Davis (99.5) in career sacks.
After his 11 seasons in Green Bay ended, he played for four more years in the NFL, spending two seasons with both the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Oilers.
Johnson was elected to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1997.
Green Bay Packers Greatest Players List
- #100- Daryn Colledge
- #99- Mike Butler
- #98- Bernardo Harris
- #97- Tyrone Williams
- #96- Dick Himes
- #95- Mason Crosby
- #94- Mike McCoy
- #93- Gilbert Brown
- #92- Ryan Pickett
- #91- Ron Kostelnik
- #90- Earl Dotson
- #89- Paul Hornung
- #88- Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila
- #87- Robert Brooks
- #86- Ken Bowman
- #85- Edgar Bennett
- #84- Jesse Whittenton
- #83- Tim Harris
- #82- Gerry Ellis
- #81- Jim Carter
- #80- Willie Buchanon
- #79- James Jones
- #78- Al Harris
- #77- Santana Dotson
- #76- Bill Forester
- #75- Kenny Clark
- #74- Dorsey Levens
- #73- George Koonce
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