Tag: Jersey

Taliese Fuaga can keep wearing his college jersey number with the Saints

Taliese Fuaga hasn’t chosen his New Orleans Saints jersey number, but his college number is open. It just might not make Andrus Peat too happy:

Taliese Fuaga hasn’t chosen which number he’ll wear with the New Orleans Saints just yet, but his college number is open if he wants to keep wearing it. There’s just one little thing: Fuaga claiming the No. 75 jersey might not make Andrus Peat too happy.

That’s the number Peat wore for nine years with the Saints. His contract voided in March, making him a free agent and making No. 75 available. The team hasn’t expressed much interest in bringing him back. Both Mickey Loomis and Dennis Allen shared lukewarm responses when asked about his availability.

So Peat may not be interested in re-signing with the Saints anyway. Having his jersey hanging in someone else’s locker (assuming the Saints don’t give it to Fuaga anyway) wouldn’t make it very appealing. Teams will be looking to sign veteran linemen after the draft, once they know what their depth charts look like, and Peat could have better opportunities waiting than what he’d find in New Orleans. We’ll have to wait and see where he ends up, and which number Fuaga ultimately chooses to wear.

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Broncos unveil new throwback uniforms with brilliant hype video

The Broncos unveiled “Orange Crush” throwback uniforms with a brilliant hype video on Monday.

The most-anticipated jersey the Denver Broncos released on Monday was their 1977-inspired throwback uniform. The helmet design for the uniform and the overall design of the uniform itself had been a team staple from the late 1960s to 1996. This uniform made it to four Super Bowls before the previously established uniforms took over in 1997.

The team unveiled the uniform with a brilliant hype video:

In the video, Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain drives a modern Ford Bronco to a store with the old “D” logo above the door. Surtain walks in, and it looks as if he goes back in time, as he looks out the window of the store and his car is transformed into a 1970s-era Bronco. Surtain picks a jersey off a rack of clothes as a darkened storekeeper asks if he can help Surtain out.

Surtain brings the jersey to the counter and asks if the storekeeper has something to go with the jersey. The storekeeper looks to Surtain, and the cashier’s identity is now revealed to be Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Randy Gradishar. Gradishar tells Surtain he has something for him, and pulls out the powder blue “D” helmet, and tells him, “You’ve been waiting for this.”

The blend between Gradishar and Surtain is an homage to the “Orange Crush” era, which popularized and endeared this jersey into the hearts of Broncos Country forever. Well done, Broncos. Well done.

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Gayle Benson presents Pope Francis with personalized Saints jersey

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson presented Pope Francis with a personalized Saints jersey while visiting Rome:

There aren’t many New Orleans Saints jerseys to be found in Vatican City, and one of the few you’ll see there is personalized for the Pope himself. Saints owner Gayle Benson received a personal audience with Pope Francis this week, in which she gifted him a custom No. 1 jersey emblazoned with “Papa Francesco,” as seen a photo shared by WDSU’s Fletcher Mackel.

Mackel reports that this was just one stop on Benson’s 10-day trip in Europe. She also petitioned the Papal Foundation and other business and tourism groups for investments in New Orleans and renovations to the iconic St. Louis Cathedral. She’ll visit Italy and Germany as part of this tour before returning to Louisiana.

Benson has deep ties to the Catholic Church and the Archdiocese in New Orleans; it’s where she met her late husband Tom Benson, and she maintains a close friendship with Archbishop Gregory Aymond. But that relationship has drawn scrutiny between Benson donating tens of millions of dollars to the archdiocese and the involvement of Saints executives in assisting the church with damage control during its clergy abuse crisis.

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Saints punter Lou Hedley has chosen a new jersey number

Australian punter Lou Hedley has chosen a new jersey number in his second season with the Saints:

There isn’t a new punter kicking for the New Orleans Saints, but the one they have will be wearing a new number. Second-year pro Lou Hedley has given up his No. 39 jersey to switch to the more-appealing No. 15, per the team website. It’s a new number for him after he wore No. 94 in college at Miami.

So who will be wearing his old jersey number? Right now, that’s been assigned to rookie kicker Charlie Smyth. So the Saints’ Australian punter will be wearing No. 15 and their Irish kicker is using No. 39.

Fans should expect some competition to be brought in for Hedley, though it’s likelier to be a rookie free agent signing than a veteran pickup. While the Saints’ coaching staff were largely pleased with Hedley’s performance in his rookie year, he struggled to give his coverage team much hang time or room to work with. He ranked last in the league in both hang time (4.03 seconds) and yards per punt (43). We rated him with a D in our rookie report cards at the end of the year.

Still, it’s possible Hedley beats his competition again and earns another year in black and gold. If he does overcome that challenge, he’ll be wearing No. 15.

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Steelers WR George Pickens ready for a jersey number change

George Pickens wants that No. 1 jersey.

Tis the season for jersey number changes. Earlier in the week, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the jersey numbers for all of the new additions including quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. We’ve already talked about former Steeler Antonio Brown having concerns with new Pittsburgh wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson taking his old number.

Meanwhile, Steelers wide receiver George Pickens is shooting his shot and trying to get Pittsburgh to change his jersey number to No. 1. So Pickens took to Instagram to plead his case to his team.

Pickens wore No. 1 during his college career at the University of Georgia. The Steelers brought in Fields in a trade with the Chicago Bears where he wore the number but the Steelers switched it up to No. 2. This tells us the Steelers aren’t giving any player No. 1 so Pickens is going to be out of luck.

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Antonio Brown takes big shot at Steelers franchise on social media

Antonio Brown doesn’t appreciate Cordarrelle Patterson wearing his jersey number.

On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the jersey numbers for all of their free-agent additions this offseason. This included wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson will wear No. 84 for the Steelers, which happens to be the same number former Steeler Antonio Brown wore during his playing days.

This didn’t sit well with Brown who took to social media to whine about how the Steelers don’t typically formally retire jersey numbers but instead sort of shadow ban any players from wearing them. Brown took exception to this because his number didn’t get the same treatment.

Brown then said he would come back and play for the Steelers for free if the team lets him wear No. 86. This of course is Hines Ward’s old number and hasn’t been assigned to a team since his retirement. He also hit up former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell to see if he would come back to Pittsburgh if he could wear Jerome Bettis’ old number.

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Willie Gay has already changed his New Orleans Saints jersey number

Willie Gay has already changed his New Orleans Saints jersey number. He’s going back to the same number he wore in college at Mississippi State:

It only took a week for Willie Gay to go through two different jersey numbers. The New Orleans Saints initially listed their newest linebacker in the same No. 50 he wore with the Kansas City Chiefs — but he’s now slotted into No. 6, which is the jersey number he used in college at Mississippi State. It ties in well with Gay reuniting with so many familiar faces from his college days, like teammates Johnathan Abram and J.T. Gray, as well as his old defensive coordinator Todd Grantham (the current defensive line coach for New Orleans).

The number only became available when the Saints released safety Marcus Maye at the start of the new league year last Wednesday, the same day Gay’s signing was announced. Before the NFL relaxed its rules for jersey numbers in 2021, just seven players had used No. 6 in Saints history, all specialists (most notably punters Thomas Morstead from 2009-2020 and Tommy Barnhardt from 1987-1999).

Now, it’s in high demand. But Gay isn’t the only Saints free agent pickup to have chosen his new jersey number. Backup quarterback Nathan Peterman is using No. 10, which is new for him; he wore No. 14 with the Chicago Bears  last year but opted for a different number in New Orleans. But veteran wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. is using the same No. 11 jersey he wore for the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys. No word yet on which number defensive end Chase Young is going to wear, though.

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Texans’ new uniforms might hint at unveiling date for Broncos’ new look

The Texans will unveil new uniforms in April, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Broncos do the same.

We know the Denver Broncos are getting new uniforms — the team has confirmed that — but we don’t yet know when the uniforms will be unveiled.

Based on some deductive reasoning, it seems safe to assume the jerseys will be unveiled before the 2024 season. Denver’s current jerseys are all marked down at discounted prices on the team’s official online shop, perhaps a sign that new jerseys are arriving soon.

The release schedule for the Houston Texans’ new uniforms might hint at a similar timeline for the Broncos.

Texans CEO and chairman Cal McNair took to Reddit earlier this week to post a preview photo of Houston’s new look. This was his caption for the post: “Leaked pic? How about a real photo of Nico and Tank!? Way more to come in April!”

McNair’s post indicates that the Texans will have a full unveiling for their new uniform design in April, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Denver does the same. Revealing the uniforms before the NFL draft makes sense because the jerseys will be held on stage by draft picks and many fans will purchase the jerseys of the team’s first-round pick (especially if it’s a quarterback).

If the Broncos have new uniforms ready for the 2024 season (which seems likely), it wouldn’t make sense to wait until after the draft to unveil them. So, following a similar schedule as the Texans, Denver seems likely to unveil new uniforms next month.

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Which jersey number is Chase Young going to use with the Saints?

Forget the contract and schematic fit. The real question is which jersey number is Chase Young going to use with the New Orleans Saints?

The New Orleans Saints made a splash in free agency by signing Chase Young, who could do a lot to change Cameron Jordan’s role and allow them to both play their best football. But beyond the salary cap ramifications of acquiring Young and how he’ll fit into the defense, we’ve got to consider the most important question: what jersey number is Young going to be wearing?

Young has worn two different numbers in the NFL, choosing No. 99 (with Washington) and No. 92 (with San Francisco). Right now, both of those are taken by Khalen Saunders and Tanoh Kpassagnon, respectively. Before he turned pro Young used No. 2 at Ohio State, and while that is available the Saints showed last year they didn’t understand the new rules by not allowing Jason Pierre-Paul to wear a linebacker number. They insisted he be listed as a defensive end, who are not eligible for wearing single digits.

Chris Olave has already shown an interest in switching to No. 2 (which he also wore in college at Ohio State), and there wouldn’t be any question about a wide receiver using it.

What about Young’s high school number? He transferred from St. Vincent Pallotti High School, where he wore No. 34, to DeMatha Catholic High School, where he switched to No. 9. Drew Brees’ number is unofficially retired, so we can scratch that out. Which means the only number Young has used before, No. 34, is also the only one still available. But it isn’t eligible for defensive linemen, so the Saints would have to list Young on the roster as an outside linebacker, which they’ve been reluctant to do before.

There are two numbers in the nineties that could appeal to Young: Nos. 91 and 97, last used by Kyle Phillips and Malcolm Roach. It’s also possible he could buy out his preferred number from Saunders or Kpassagnon, or go with something fresh altogether. It’s a curious situation, but honestly pretty low-stakes given everything else going on with this team and the world at large. We’ll keep an eye out for an update.

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This fan-made Broncos uniform looks beautiful

Would you be happy if the Broncos made this their new uniform?

We know the Denver Broncos are working on new uniforms, but we don’t know exactly what they’ll look like or when they’re set to arrive.

In the meantime, fans have been left to dream up their own uniform concepts. Here’s a beautiful uniform set created and shared by Tim Contic on his Twitter/X page:

The design looks beautiful, but Broncos Wire has two small quibbles with the alternate options. Denver is expected to continue using a white helmet as an alternate, so that’s accurate, and the team will also likely have a “D” logo throwback uniform. But this concept mockup did not include an alternate blue jersey or an all-orange Color Rush-style alternate.

We expect the Broncos’ next uniform set to at least include a blue alternate, and an updated Color Rush-styled alternate might be in the works as well.

Nothing is certain, though, because Denver has not been forthcoming about the state of the club’s uniform process.

“We’ll be having some things coming there in the future, but nothing to announce today,” Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner said in January.

The fact that the team’s current uniforms are marked down with big discounts seemingly suggests that new uniforms will arrive in time for the 2024 season, but that’s just speculation. We expect an official announcement form the team in the coming months, perhaps before the NFL draft in April.

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