Definitely not Robinson. Maybe Conerly. But more likely Luckman, who was Jewish like David Green. Benny Friedman was a HOF QB for NYG and he was Jewish, but he played in the 30s (no idea what number he wore). I did think it was weird that Simmons was surprised a QB in the 50s would be wearing #42. If he'd ever watched old highlights, the numbering standards in place now didn't exist then. "Backs" were usually issued numbers 10-49.I'm just listening to the School Ties one, and the "football coordinator" (Simmons) just said that David Green wore number 42 as a QB because of Jackie Robinson, which someone suggested on the internet and he's endorsing. Sure, or maybe it's because it's set in the 1950s, and Sid Luckman and Charlie Conerly, two QB stars of the 40s and 50s, wore number 42. The prep school that David plays at wear something close to the NY Giants uniforms of that era, and the Giants were the team of all of NE since the AFL had not yet come into existence, so I think it's more likely that 42 was due to Charlie Conerly than Jackie Robinson.
Anyway, I was kind of surprised to see School Ties on the Rewatchables in the first place. Seemed kind of random. I saw it in the theater in college and thought it was pretty forgettable at the time. Simmons and his two Jewish co-hosts billed it as being some sort of cultural touchstone experience for Jewish kids, but I don't remember it that way at all (and I don't remember any other Jewish people I knew talking about it that way). They said they also picked it because so much of its cast blew up into huge stars, which makes more sense, but they still pumped it up as this big movie for Jews that it wasn't, really. I did rewatch it after listening to the podcast and it was better than I remembered (Fraser and Damon were both really good). But this wasn't a movie I'd describe as particularly impactful or rewatchable.