The Greatest Green Bay Packers Players of All Time
Green Bay Packers players have won championships in 6 different decades, which turns any rank order of the greatest into an argument between eras. Every player here is named on at least 4 of the 11 Packers honor rolls and all-time rankings counted for this list: the team's own honor roll (the Packers Hall of Fame and its retired numbers, counted as one), the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and nine press rankings. Players left off no more than two of the sources that could have named them start in the top group; everyone else who clears the door starts below them, and your votes set the order from there.
Brett Favre is #1 on “The Greatest Green Bay Packers Players of All Time”.
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Brett Favre
On February 11, 1992, Ron Wolf sent Atlanta the 17th overall pick for him, and Green Bay kept him through 2007. The first sign came that September against Cincinnati. Don Majkowski hurt his ankle, Favre came off the bench, and with the Packers down 23-17 and 1:07 to play he found Kitrick Taylor for the winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining. AP MVP awards followed in 1995, 1996 and 1997, plus 9 Pro Bowl trips in green and gold and a 35-21 win over New England in Super Bowl XXXI. Green Bay put his number 4 away for good in 2015, after his years with the Jets and Vikings. He's named on all 11 of the sources counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Favre - 2
Don Hutson
His first NFL catch came in the second game of 1935, an 83-yard touchdown from Arnie Herber that beat the Chicago Bears 7-0. His Packers career ran through 1945, with league titles in 1936, 1939 and 1944 and MVP awards in 1941 and 1942. The league's touchdown-catch leader 9 times, he retired with 99, a record until Steve Largent passed it in 1989. Detroit got the worst of him in 1945: in the second quarter of that game he caught 4 touchdown passes and kicked 5 extra points, 29 points in a single quarter, and Green Bay won 57-21. You'll find him on 10 of the 11 sources counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Hutson - 3
Aaron Rodgers
AP voters made him the league MVP in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021, all as a Packer, along with 10 Pro Bowls, and his 122.5 passer rating in 2011 set the NFL's single-season record. Green Bay drafted him 24th overall in 2005, made him the starter in 2008 and kept him through 2022 before trading him to the New York Jets in 2023. On February 6, 2011, in Super Bowl XLV against Pittsburgh, he threw for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 31-25 win and took the game's MVP award home with him. Canton requires a player to be retired for at least 5 years before he's eligible, so its Hall of Fame couldn't have named him. He's on 9 of the 10 sources that could.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Rodgers - 4
Bart Starr
Green Bay's quarterback from 1956 to 1971 won 5 NFL championships, the 1966 MVP award and MVP of Super Bowls I and II, and posted a 9-1 postseason record. The play everyone brings up came on December 31, 1967, at Lambeau Field. Trailing Dallas 17-14 with no timeouts left, the Packers had driven from their own 32 with 4:50 to go, and on third-and-goal inside the Cowboys' 1 Starr told Vince Lombardi he'd run the sneak himself instead of handing off to Chuck Mercein. Lombardi told him to do it. Jerry Kramer and Ken Bowman double-teamed Jethro Pugh, Starr went in behind them, and Green Bay won 21-17. He shows up on 11 of 11 sources here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Starr - 5
Reggie White
His 68.5 sacks as a Packer were the team's career record at that point, and the 1998 season brought him the league's top defensive award. He came over from Philadelphia in 1993 as a free agent on a 4-year, $17 million contract, which made him the third-highest-paid player in the NFL at the time, and he spent 1993 to 1998 in Green Bay. The Patriots' quarterback went down 3 times under him in Super Bowl XXXI on January 26, 1997, and the Packers came away champions. The Packers retired number 92 in 2005. Count him 11 for 11 on the sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_White - 6
Forrest Gregg
Except for 1957, which the Army took, he played every Packers season from 1956 through 1970, mostly at right tackle. The Associated Press named him first-team All-Pro 7 times between 1960 and 1967, he made 9 Pro Bowls, and the 1971 NFL Record Manual credited him with the league record for consecutive games played, though sources disagree on the exact streak. Lombardi kept moving him wherever the line needed help. He filled in at right guard for an injured Jerry Kramer late in 1961, through the championship game, and in 1965 he started 10 games at left guard when Lombardi reshuffled the line, a year that ended with another NFL title. Dallas had him for 1971, his last season. The count for Gregg is 10 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gregg - 7
Ray Nitschke
Green Bay retired his 66 in 1983, and one of the team's practice fields carries his name. A third-round pick in 1958, he played linebacker there for 15 seasons, 1958 to 1972, and won 5 NFL championships. His game is the 1962 championship against New York at Yankee Stadium on December 30, played at 17 degrees with 35 to 40 mph winds. He was its MVP: he recovered both Giants fumbles, including Phil King's near halftime, and tipped a Y. A. Tittle pass that Dan Currie intercepted, and Green Bay won 16-7. Of the 11 sources here, 9 list him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Nitschke - 8
Willie Wood
Undrafted in 1960, the former USC quarterback wrote to Vince Lombardi asking for a tryout, and he stayed in Green Bay from 1960 to 1971 as a safety. 1962 put him atop the league in interceptions and in punt return yards, and he finished with 48 interceptions, 8 Pro Bowls and 5 NFL championships. Super Bowl I, on January 15, 1967, turned early in the third quarter. Len Dawson threw toward Fred Arbanas, Wood picked it off and ran 50 yards to the Kansas City 5 before Mike Garrett dragged him down from behind, and Elijah Pitts scored on the next play for a 21-10 lead. Green Bay won 35-10. He's included by 9 of the 11 sources counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Wood - 9
Herb Adderley
With Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor already in Green Bay's backfield, the rookie halfback moved to cornerback, first on Thanksgiving 1961 against Detroit and for good in 1962. The Packers had made him the 12th pick of the 1961 draft, and over 1961 to 1969 he intercepted 39 passes for them, took 7 back for touchdowns, earned 5 Pro Bowl trips and collected 5 NFL titles. Super Bowl II, on January 14, 1968, brought a fourth-quarter interception of Daryle Lamonica that he returned 60 yards for a touchdown, the first interception return for a score in Super Bowl history, in a 33-14 win over Oakland. He spent 1970 to 1972 with Dallas. He turns up on 9 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Adderley - 10
Jim Taylor
From 1958 to 1966 he was Green Bay's fullback, and 1962 was his year: 1,474 rushing yards, 19 rushing touchdowns, a league record at the time, and the AP's player-of-the-year trophy. That year sat inside a run of 5 straight 1,000-yard seasons, 1960 through 1964. His 81 rushing touchdowns are still the Packers' record, while his Packers rushing-yards record lasted until Ahman Green passed it in 2009. He closed his career with New Orleans in 1967, and he reached Canton in 1976. He appears on 8 of the 11 sources counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Taylor_(fullback) - 11
Paul Hornung
Notre Dame went 2-8 in 1956 and he won the Heisman anyway. Green Bay took him first overall in 1957, and he played there from 1957 to 1962 and again from 1964 to 1966. As a halfback who also kicked, he scored 176 points in 1960, a single-season record until LaDainian Tomlinson passed it in 2006, and he was the league MVP in 1961. That December 31 the NFL Championship Game was played in Green Bay while he was in the Army on weekend passes, and he scored 19 points, tying the postseason record, in a 37-0 win over the Giants. Pete Rozelle suspended him in April 1963 for betting on NFL games, and he missed that season. Look for him on 6 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hornung - 12
Willie Davis
His 22 fumble recoveries set a Packers record, and he played 138 consecutive regular-season games for the team. The Browns drafted him in 1956 and dealt him to the Packers in 1960, and Green Bay got 10 seasons at defensive end out of him, through 1969, a decade with 5 title teams and a Pro Bowl berth in each season from 1963 to 1967. Sacks weren't an official stat in his era, but researcher John Turney credits him with more than 100 for Green Bay. Super Bowl II's records list credits him with 3 sacks against Oakland on January 14, 1968, and Green Bay beat the Raiders 33-14 for a second straight Super Bowl title. Put him down for 6 of the 11 sources counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Davis_(defensive_end) - 13
Jerry Kramer
An injured Paul Hornung started at halfback in the 1962 NFL Championship Game but didn't kick, so a guard took over the kicking at a frigid Yankee Stadium and made 3 field goals and an extra point, 10 points in a 16-7 win over the Giants. That guard, a fourth-round pick in 1958, played for Green Bay through 1968 and collected 3 Pro Bowl invitations. He also kept a diary of the 1967 season that became Instant Replay, written with Dick Schaap and published in 1968. Canton finally took him in 2018 through the seniors process, inducting him at 82. He was already on the NFL's 50th anniversary team. Kramer is on 5 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Kramer - 14
LeRoy Butler
As a small child he spent years in leg braces and a wheelchair and didn't walk until around age 8. Green Bay used a 1990 second-round pick on him, and he played 12 seasons for the Packers, through 2001. He's a member of the NFL's 1990s All-Decade Team, and he was the first defensive back with 20 sacks and 20 interceptions, with a Super Bowl XXXI ring besides. On December 26, 1993, against the Los Angeles Raiders, he forced a Randy Jordan fumble, Reggie White scooped up the ball and tossed it back to him, and he ran it in and jumped into the stands. That was the first Lambeau Leap. Butler is named by 5 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeRoy_Butler - 15
Sterling Sharpe
In 1992 he led the league in catches, receiving yards and touchdown catches, and in the final game that year he broke Art Monk's single-season receptions record. The Packers made him the seventh choice of the 1988 draft, and he was their receiver until 1994. In 1993 he broke his own record with 112 catches, making him the first player with back-to-back seasons of more than 100, and in 1994 he caught 18 touchdown passes. Doctors found a neck problem late in 1994 that needed surgery, and he never played again. Pro Bowl rosters had him in 1989, 1990 and each year from 1992 to 1994. In 2025 he joined his younger brother Shannon in Canton, the first brothers enshrined there. He's on 5 of the 11 sources counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_Sharpe - 16
Charles Woodson
He didn't want to come to Green Bay in 2006, but he signed a 7-year deal there on April 26 after his years in Oakland, and he stayed through 2012. In 2009 he put together 9 interceptions, 3 returned for touchdowns, 4 forced fumbles, 2 sacks, and the AP's 2009 award for the league's best defender. Green Bay sent him to 4 Pro Bowls. In Super Bowl XLV he broke his collarbone diving to break up a pass to Mike Wallace with 1:54 left in the first half, spoke to his teammates at halftime, and watched the second half from the sideline as Green Bay finished the job. His Canton enshrinement followed in 2021. Woodson is listed by 4 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Woodson - 17
James Lofton
The NCAA long jump title was his in 1978, on a wind-aided jump. Green Bay picked him 6th overall that same year, and he was a Packers receiver from 1978 to 1986. Lofton made 7 Pro Bowls from Green Bay and had 5 seasons there over 1,000 yards. The 1984 season is the high point: 1,361 yards and a league-leading 22.0 yards a catch, a year after he led the NFL at 22.4. He left Green Bay holding the team's receiving-yards record, 9,656, a mark that has since been passed, and later played for the Raiders, Bills, Rams and Eagles before going into Canton in 2003. Lofton is named on 4 of the 11 sources here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lofton - 18
Henry Jordan
Facing an 11-1-2 Los Angeles team in the 1967 divisional round, Green Bay won 28-7 on December 23, and he had 3.5 sacks lined up against future Hall of Fame guard Tom Mack. Cleveland had sent him to Green Bay for a fourth-round draft choice before Vince Lombardi's first season, and he held down defensive tackle there from 1959 to 1969. His Pro Bowl seasons were 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1966, and the rings came with them: 5 NFL championships, then the first 2 Super Bowls. In 1970 he moved to Milwaukee to create and run Summerfest. He died in 1977 at 42, 18 years before his 1995 enshrinement in Canton. On the 11 sources counted, he's named by 4.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Jordan - 19
Dave Robinson
The 1966 NFL Championship Game against Dallas came down to a fourth down at the Packers' 2-yard line, and he got to Don Meredith, forced a desperation throw, and watched Tom Brown pick it off in the end zone; Green Bay won 34-27 to go on to Super Bowl I. Green Bay had drafted him 14th overall in 1963, and Packers linebacker was his job through 1972, with 3 Pro Bowl selections and 3 straight NFL championships, 1965 through 1967, along the way. Washington got his last 2 seasons, 1973 and 1974. Canton elected him in 2013 as a senior nominee, decades after his last snap. Robinson appears on 4 of 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Robinson_(American_football) - 20
Cal Hubbard
After a 1928 road game in Green Bay he asked the New York Giants for a trade there, and he played tackle and end for the Packers from 1929 to 1933 and again in 1935. His first 3 Green Bay seasons, 1929 through 1931, all ended in NFL titles, and the 1929 team gave up 22 points all year. In 1963 he was part of Canton's first class of inductees. He's also credited as one of the inventors of the linebacker position. In 1976 he went into baseball's Hall of Fame for his years as an American League umpire, 1936 to 1951. His name is on 4 of the 11 sources counted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_Hubbard - 21
Donald Driver
When he retired, the Packers' records for catches, 743, and receiving yards, 10,137, were his. His Packers years ran from 1999, when they took him 213th overall in the seventh round, through 2012. On December 16, 2007, his 7-yard catch was the completion that broke Dan Marino's career passing yards record for Brett Favre. A month later, against the New York Giants in the NFC title game on January 20, 2008, he caught a 90-yard touchdown pass from Favre, the longest play in Packers playoff history. Green Bay put him in its team Hall of Fame in 2017. Driver gets named by 4 of the 11 sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Driver
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