After a long career terrorizing opposing offenses in Chicago, Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher announced his retirement Wednesday. Urlacher may be the most accomplished athlete to ever suit up in uniform No. 54, but 10 others caught ThePostGame's attention.

Best Athletes To Wear No. 54 Slideshow

Brian Urlacher

Urlacher was a force in the middle for the Bears, anchoring one of the NFL's best defense in the 2000s. The University of New Mexico product was an eight-time Pro Bowler, finishing his career with 1,052 tackles, 41.5 sacks and 22 interceptions, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com

Zach Thomas

For 12 years, Thomas served as the Urlacher of the Miami Dolphins defense. In fact, the middle linebacker finished his career with five first team All-Pro nods, one more than Urlacher.

Tedy Bruschi

A three-time Super Bowl champion in his 13-year career with the New England Patriots, Bruschi was the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2005. Just weeks after New England beat the Philadelphia Eagles for its third Super Bowl in four years, Bruschi suffered a minor stroke. But he returned midway through the Pats' 2005 season and made 37 tackles.

Rich "Goose" Gossage

The Goose donned No. 54 for nine teams in a 22-year career, racking up 310 saves in the process. But he is probably more well known for his trademark facial hair than his longtime uniform number.

Horace Grant

Grant helped Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to three NBA titles in the early 1990s before becoming Shaquille O'Neal's frontcourt-mate in Orlando. He later followed O'Neal to Los Angeles, winning another ring with the Lakers in 2001. Grant averaged 8.1 rebounds in 17 seasons, all spent wearing No. 54.

Brad Lidge

For a while, Lidge was haunted by Albert Pujols' mammoth home-run off him and the Houston Astros in the 2005 National League Championship Series. Three years later, Lidge exorcised the demons, converting all 48 regular-season and playoff save opportunities for the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. After a few more up-and-down years with the Phillies and Washington Nationals, Lidge retired before this season.

Kris Medlen

Medlen's experience with No. 54 on his back is still limited, but the fifth-year pitcher has been mostly dazzling for the Atlanta Braves. He had a 1.57 ERA in 50 appearances last year, including 12 starts, earning a full-time spot in the Braves' 2013 rotation.

Aroldis Chapman

Another young No. 54-wearer, Chapman might be able to double that figure with his fastball velocity. Now that's a slight exaggeration, but the Cincinnati Reds closer regularly dials it up to triple digits on the radar gun. He has 48 saves since the beginning of 2012.

Randy White

Defensive lineman White wore No. 54 throughout a 14-year career with the Dallas Cowboys that lasted until 1988. He had three straight seasons of double-digit sacks from 1983 to 1985. He was co-MVP of Super Bowl XII with Harvey Martin.