Best Dallas Cowboys player to wear No. 88 was Tom Landry's last 1st-round draft pick

Welcome back once again to The Landry Hat's series highlighting the greatest Dallas Cowboys players to wear every jersey number from No. 0 all the way up to No. 99.

Well, of the 100 entries in this series, I'm guessing that this is the one many of you have been waiting on the most, as No. 88 is easily and obviously the most famous number in the storied history of America's Team, one that carries a great responsibility to anyone who wears it.

Things weren't always that way, as five players sported it over the first 13 years of the Cowboys' existence, none of whom made much of an impact. But starting in 1973, the double eights have been donned by just seven players, four of whom are easily among the greatest wide receivers in franchise history.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet, as we first need to run through our quick little process of looking at everyone who's worn No. 88 for Dallas over the years.

Antonio Bryant, WR
Dez Bryant, WR
Sonny Davis, LB
Jackie Harris, TE
Michael Irvin, WR
CeeDee Lamb, WR
Drew Pearson, WR
Brett Pierce, TE
Sonny Randle, WR
Colin Ridgway, P
Reggie Rucker, WR
Ron Sellers, WR

Before we get into things with the three who've worn No. 88 in the past, we first want to mention the man currently wearing it, that man, of course, being CeeDee Lamb. Now, if we're being honest, if Lamb continues to put up the types of numbers he already has, he could very well end up taking this slot at some point down the line.

After all, in his first six seasons after being taken with the 17th overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Oklahoma alum posted 7,416 yards, the most of any player in Cowboys history through their first six years, and earned five trips to the Pro Bowl and three total All-Pro selections (one First Team, two Second Team).

And with the way his 2026 is shaping up, he's well on his way to more individual accolades. So, we'll obviously continue to track his progress as his career continues.

Moving on, we mentioned the year 1973 above, and the reason why that date means so much is because that's the year Drew Pearson arrived in Dallas and kicked off this legendary lineage.

What some may not know or remember about Pearson is that he went unselected in the '73 draft out of Tulsa before signing with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent. And the only reason he made the main roster as a rookie is that Tom Landry liked what he could do on special teams.

But after injuries to both players who were ahead of him on the depth chart at wide receiver, the New Jersey native got his shot to shine, and his career just took off from there.

In his 11 seasons with the team, Pearson tallied 489 receptions for 7,822 yards and 48 touchdowns in 156 regular-season outings, earning three trips to the Pro Bowl and three First-Team All-Pro selections. And in 22 postseason appearances, including the Cowboys' Super Bowl 12 victory over the Denver Broncos, he added another 67 grabs for 1,105 yards and five scores.

He was inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2011, and after a far-too-long wait, he was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.

Then, of course, we've got Dez Bryant, who was taken by Dallas in the first round of the 2010 draft with the 24th overall selection.

While the Oklahoma State product didn't have as long of a run as Pearson in Dallas, nor did he have the overall team success that Pearson enjoyed, he certainly got quite a bit out of his eight-season stretch with the Cowboys, catching 531 passes for 7,459 yards in just 113 regular-season games with an incredible 73 touchdowns, which remain the most receiving scores in franchise history to this day.

Bryant only got the chance to play three playoff games with Dallas, but he produced there as well, posting 15 catches for 218 yards with two touchdowns. He should have at least one more postseason catch, but we won't get into that whole "Dez caught it" argument here, as we need to keep moving.

And to keep moving, of course, we need to get to our winner. Again, if Lamb continues on the path he's on, he may very well take this honor someday. For now, though, the easy call here is still the great Michael Irvin.

Michael Irvin played a big part in the 1990s Dallas Cowboys dynasty

A three-time All-American at the University of Miami, where he won a national championship with his future head coach in the pros, Jimmy Johnson, and set school records for receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, Irvin was taken by Dallas in the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft with the 11th overall selection, thus making him the last first-round pick of Tom Landry and Tex Schramm.

And so impressed was Landry with Irvin that he made him the first rookie receiver to start a Week 1 game in two decades, so that obviously says a lot right there.

After a solid rookie campaign in which he caught 32 passes for 654 yards with five touchdowns, the Florida native was limited to just six games due to a torn ACL in 1989, which, of course, is the year Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson came to town, as did Troy Aikman. And in 1990, the year Emmitt Smith was drafted, Irvin appeared in only a dozen games, starting just seven of them.

But once he was fully healthy in 1991 and he and Aikman got on the same page, the 6-foot-2, 207-pounder established himself as one of the top wide receivers in the NFL, earning his first trip to the Pro Bowl and a First-Team All-Pro selection after tallying 93 catches for a league-high 1,523 yards and eight touchdowns and setting a new team record with seven 100-yard outings.

What followed, of course, was one of the greatest runs in NFL history, as the Cowboys won three Super Bowls in the four-season stretch from 1992 to 1995, also making the NFC Championship Game the year they didn't hoist the Lombardi, and Irvin was one of the big reasons for all that success.

In those four seasons alone, he recorded 356 receptions for 5,570 yards with 30 touchdowns in 64 regular-season appearances, earning four Pro Bowl selections and a pair of Second-Team All-Pro nods, and added another 65 catches for 991 yards and eight touchdowns in 11 postseason contests, making 16 combined grabs for 256 yards and two touchdowns in the Cowboys' trio of Super Bowl victories.

After missing out on a sixth straight 1,000-yard season in 1996, as he missed five games (he still got to 962 in 11 appearances), Irvin had back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in 1997 and 1998, but in the fourth game of the 1999 season, his career came to an abrupt end when he suffered a cervical spine injury against the Philadelphia Eagles, and when doctors discovered that he'd been born with cervical spinal stenosis and told him that he could be paralyzed if he took another bad hit, Irvin had no choice but to retire.

In his dozen years in Dallas, Irvin amassed 750 regular-season receptions for 11,904 yards with 65 touchdowns, numbers that currently place him in second, second, and fourth in franchise history, respectively. Only Jason Witten has more receptions and receiving yards, and only Bryant, Witten, and "Bullet" Bob Hayes have more touchdowns.

Irvin was inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor alongside Aikman and Smith in 2005 and was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his third year of eligibility in 2007.

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

This list will be updated daily until all 100 entries are complete, so please be sure to check back in with The Landry Hat for updates.

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Michael Irvin played a big part in the 1990s Dallas Cowboys dynasty

Other Dallas Cowboys jersey honorees

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