Tag: Jersey

WATCH: Carson Wentz takes the field at OTAs donning No. 11 jersey

Carson Wentz was spotted wearing his No. 11 jersey during workouts at #Chiefs OTAs on Wednesday.

The Kansas City Chiefs have had some outstanding players wearing the No. 11 jersey over the years.

Most notably, quarterback Alex Smith wore No. 11 for Kansas City from 2013 through 2017, helping to lift the Chiefs back to relevance in Andy Reid’s first years as the team’s head coach.

When Smith left Western Missouri to start his tenure with the Washington Football Team in 2018, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson took over the number before Marquez Valdes-Scantling arrived in Kansas City in 2022.

Now, backup quarterback Carson Wentz is donning the No. 11 jersey with pride and was spotted wearing his Chiefs uniform for the first time at Kansas City’s organized team activities on Wednesday.

While Wentz isn’t likely to see consistent action for the Chiefs in the 2024 regular season, the legacy of the number will live on with him in the preseason and on the sideline as he seeks to become Kansas City’s next great second-stringer.

Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell explains why he switched out of Derek Carr’s number

Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell explains why he switched out of Derek Carr’s number, saying it wasn’t his choice to pick it up in the first place:

There wasn’t much love lost between Derek Carr and the Las Vegas Raiders last year, when the longtime franchise quarterback shown the door after being benched for the last few weeks of the 2022 season. And that relationship splintered further when rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell put on Carr’s No. 4 jersey just months after Carr left to join the New Orleans Saints.

But O’Connell switched to No. 12 this offseason. He shared his reasoning on his teammate Maxx Crosby’s podcast, saying that it wasn’t his decision to pick No. 4 in the first place, and he hopes this gesture is seen as a respectful nod to Carr.

“I just didn’t want to be four anymore. I didn’t pick four, I was actually nine,” O’Connell recounted, “and then Tyree (Wilson) wanted nine, so they gave nine to Tyree in like the first week I was here last year, and they gave me four. I was a rookie, you kind of just do what you’re told. It was Derek’s number and he wore it for so long, he’s a franchise leader and all this stuff. It felt disrespectful. So I just wanted to give that back to him.”

O’Connell and Carr will cross paths in 2024 when the Raiders visit the Caesars Superdome for a late-season game in Week 17. Kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 29 at noon.

Look at the Raiders’ history books and you’ll see that no quarterback appeared in more games (142) than Carr did. He attempted more passes (4,958) than the second- and third-place quarterbacks combined (4,929 between Ken Stabler and Rich Gannon). He also owns the franchise record for touchdown passes by a wide margin (217 against Stabler’s 150). Carr never found postseason success with the Raiders, but he did give them stability under center that ex-head coach Josh McDaniels was all too eager to shake up.

Carr’s No. 4 jersey has been reissued by the Raiders since O’Connell gave it up, with veteran wide receiver Jalen Guyton choosing it. At least it isn’t another quarterback. It feels like a long shot for Carr to earn the same level of respect that Drew Brees and Archie Manning have in New Orleans, where no player will ever wear Nos. 9 or 8, but that does go to show the difference in how each organization treats its players.

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Cardinals release jersey number for rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

Marvin Harrison gets to keep his college number as a member of the Cardinals.

While there was a whirlwind of activity at the top of the 2024 NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals sat back and relaxed while they waited for former Ohio State star wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to land in their laps. On Tuesday, the image below was circulating around the internet showing Harrison’s new jersey with No. 18.

This lines up with the same number Harrison wore as a member of the Buckeyes. Harrison went No. 4 overall and the Cardinals hope he can become the same type of weapon for quarterback Kyler Murray as he was at Ohio State.

In three seasons of college, Harrison caught 150 passes for 2,495 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns.

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Alontae Taylor hints at changing his Saints jersey number again

Alontae Taylor hinted at changing his Saints jersey number again on social media. Who could end up wearing No. 1?

Alontae Taylor has maintained an interesting social media presence during his career with the New Orleans Saints, and another chapter was added on Tuesday as he hinted at changing his jersey number for a second time.

After coming into the NFL and initially choosing the No. 27, he switched to No. 1 for 2023. Now, he is hinting at changing to his college number of 2. Jameis Winston held it when Taylor first joined the team, so it only recently became available.

The No. 2 jersey is currently being used by backup quarterback Kellen Mond. Mond could be cut, though, after the team drafted Spencer Rattler. Taylor may be hinting at changing his number because rookie cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry wore No. 1 in college.

This also isn’t the first time this offseason that someone has mentioned changing into No. 2, as Chris Olave also made a reference to switching his number as well. That didn’t come to fruition, possibly because of the costs involved in buying unsold No. 12 jerseys to facilitate the move (which would be prohibitive on a rookie salary).

Who will end up wearing the number? Is Taylor really hinting at a move? Only time will tell.

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Steelers rookie OT Troy Fautanu gets new jersey number

The first of the Steelers’ rookie jersey numbers is out.

On Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected offensive tackle Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. Fautanu gives the Steelers an athletic, physical offensive tackle to pair up with Broderick Jones.

In college, Fautanu wore No. 55, but according to the team, based on a video on social media, he is making the switch over to No. 76.

Most NFL draft pundits felt like despite playing tackle in college, Fautanu’s NFL future might be on the interior. Head coach Mike Tomlin addressed this after the pick and said the team views him as a tackle. This means Fautanu’s addition should mean the Steelers can move Broderick Jones to left tackle, the spot he was drafted to play in 2023.

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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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