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The Dallas Cowboys now have multiple Hall of Famers that wore the same number... more could come soon

Congratulations to The Original 88.

NFL: APR 26 2018 NFL Draft Photo by Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Saturday night saw longtime Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson get the due that has evaded him for far too long. The Original 88 is headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Pearson has obviously been associated with the number 88 being great in silver and blue longer than anybody else. Club 88 has become a thing for the Cowboys organization with Michael Irvin wearing it through his own Hall of Fame career, and Dez Bryant donning it while he caught more touchdowns than anybody else in franchise history. If CeeDee Lamb’s career builds off of the success that he had as a rookie, odds are he will one day join that illustrious group.

Interestingly enough while 88 has been the flashier number for the Cowboys organization there is another that has featured two HOFers for over a decade now - 22. Many fans remember Emmitt Smith, who spoke with BTB this past week by the way, rocking it as he gained more yards than anyone in the history of the game, but wide receiver Bob Hayes wore it at a time when rules were a bit different for numbers in the NFL.

The Cowboys should double their numbers with multiple Hall of Famers in the not forever distant future

With Pearson’s selection to the HOF the Cowboys doubled their jersey numbers that belonged to gold jackets. That’s pretty cool.

What’s more is that the Cowboys could add a third number to this list as soon as next year. In case you forgot, DeMarcus Ware is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame starting in 2022 and as Charles Haley was the first to take number 94 into Canton, he could soon have company.

When it comes to all-time numbers as far as great players in Cowboys history go, the number 70 seems to get forgotten. Rayfield Wright, The Big Cat, set the standard for it with his own Hall of Fame career. He is surely among those happiest for Drew Pearson, by the way.

Not to look too far into the future, but Zack Martin is well on pace to have a bronze bust himself one day. When that ultimately happens he will give the Cowboys another pair of players that took the same jersey number into the Hall of Fame.

The Cowboys don’t hand out numbers like 8, 22, or 74 so they will likely never get a second player to take them into Canton. Numbers like 33, 54, 55, 73, etc. seem to have the largest likelihood of joining this special group.

In fact, 54 might hold the largest chance if we are trying to pick a betting favorite. Randy White is already in the HOF and Chuck Howley - the only player to be named MVP of a Super Bowl despite his team losing it - has been excluded for far too long.

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