J.J. Watt looks to create history as the Arizona Cardinals seek their first Super Bowl victory. He will have a chance to do so in his familiar No. 99, thanks to the good nature of the family of Marshall Goldberg.
Marshall Goldberg wore No. 99 for the Chicago Cardinals and those digits had been retired long ago.
TMZ reached out to the family of Goldberg and his daughter is all for the defensive lineman wearing the number.
“He has my blessings,” Ellen Goldberg Tullos said of Watt to TMZ, “and I’m sure my father would be more than delighted for him to carry it on.”
Goldberg played college football as a halfback and fullback at the University of Pittsburgh. and was twice recognized as a consensus All-American, and played on two national championship teams.
Goldberg played for the Chicago Cardinals of the NFL for eight seasons between 1939-48, with an interruption during World War II, and was a four-time All-Pro. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1958.
Watt reached out to Goldberg Tullos after learning of what she told the sports/gossip site.
“Well, I know dad was really honored when they retired his number but also he’s always respected other players,” Tullos said. “And, if J.J. Watt had the number 99 with him for a long time and it meant something to him, I think he’d be delighted to let him use the number and unretire or whatever the proper word would be.”
Tullos continued, “He would be fine with that. It’s just the type of guy he was, you know? I think he would be happy to let him use his number and honored with that as well.”
Goldberg died in 2006 at age 88 at a nursing home. Following his death, his daughter, Ellen Tullos, and his widow, Rita Goldberg, helped to set up The Marshall Goldberg Traumatic Brain Injury Fund at The University of Illinois at Chicago. Goldberg had sustained a number of concussions during his career, which the family felt contributed to difficulties later in his life.