NFL Jersey Numbers.

[Billy B]

I'm pretty sure that it's determined by the team, when they submit official rosters to the League.

No team has yet tested the whole "we'll falsify our roster so you get to wear your college number" yet, but I suspect were any team crass enough to do that the NFL front office would step in.

I want to say that the Seahawks tried to list Brian Bosworth as another position (FB maybe) so that he could wear 44 at linebacker. I only remember hearing that from this site, I think, and Bosworth was before my time so I don't know for sure.

Devin Hester is listed as a WR and still wears #23. that always puzzled me

Devin Hester wears 23 because he was drafted as a DB. He played a little at corner his rookie year, then when he officially changed from DB to WR he didn't need to change his number.

[MDC]

i think the Hester thing has something to do with Reebok being stubborn and not wanting to change Hester merchandise. Sort of along the lines of the Chad OchoCinco fiasco

[blitzburgh]

Living in the Chicago land area, I recall some sports radio stating something to the fact that Hester's plays (or percentage of) will be monitored and if he goes above X amount (or percentage), then his number will have to be changed to a WR specific number (10 - 19, 80 - 89). I guess the logic means that his amount of plays (or percentage) dictates his position and then the number will reflect that. I don't follow the Chicago teams much, so I don't know if he's officially listed as a WR or not. He can be listed as whatever, but as long as he stays below the X amount of plays at WR, he can stay #23.

[pcgd]

Man if Reebok did half the crap you guys think they do there is no way they'd still be in business...

Hester is still listed as a Punt Returner/Kick Returner and that could have something to do with it.

Plus the league does make exceptions and they might have for Hester.

[dfwabel]

I'm pretty sure that it's determined by the team, when they submit official rosters to the League.

No team has yet tested the whole "we'll falsify our roster so you get to wear your college number" yet, but I suspect were any team crass enough to do that the NFL front office would step in.

I want to say that the Seahawks tried to list Brian Bosworth as another position (FB maybe) so that he could wear 44 at linebacker. I only remember hearing that from this site, I think, and Bosworth was before my time so I don't know for sure.

Devin Hester is listed as a WR and still wears #23. that always puzzled me

Devin Hester wears 23 because he was drafted as a DB. He played a little at corner his rookie year, then when he officially changed from DB to WR he didn't need to change his number.

Exactly! While Devin was signed at Miami to play WR, in high school he was rated as a better DB. While at The U, he played more DB with like 5 ints over his career than WR. His special teams performances are well known. The "Reebok" and plays notes made me laugh; thanks guys!

[chakfu]

Its only for the QB position. I don't know the exact rule, but its more or less in place to allow teams to have a 3rd QB but not take up a roster spot. The 3rd QB is never counted towards the roster number, HOWEVER, once he enters the game, the other quarterbacks (or maybe just the starter) can not re-enter the game. This is why many teams have a WR or someone as a 4th QB just in case all 3 QB's go down.

That's how I thought it works. Basically a guy can be designated as an emergency QB even though he doesn't take a spot on the active roster - but he's only allowed to play if it's REALLY an emergency meaning the other QB's aren't coming back; then they enforce it by saying, once the emergency QB comes in, saying "Apparently the first 2 QB's really are hurt - and just to make sure you're not faking it, they're not allowed back in."

I'm sure it doesn't work like the original posts said, since active players can obviously go in and out as they please.

An interesting situation would be - if Randle El is getting some snaps at QB in a wildcat; and Jason Campbell and a backup QB both got hurt and they needed the emergency QB - would Randle El have to leave the game? Would he be allowed to play but not allowed to take a snap at QB? Also, does it make any difference if a QB remains on the field lined up as a WR rather than going to the bench?

Kind of reminds me of those weird situations people talk about when a righty pitcher goes to play 1B for a batter while a lefty might pitch to one better before switching back...

[chakfu]

For your reply "Why is that?"

If Vick were to play running back, then your backup QB would start. In the event if the backup (now starting QB) was injured, Vick could not play QB until the 3rd QB, if they had one on the roster, would play and be unable to continue. So in essence, if Vick was to be the starting RB, he would probably be listed as the emergency QB and unable to immediately play.

Actually, maybe that isn't that far off - but the thing is, if for some reason Vick started at RB, surely the team would keep a 3rd quarterback on the active roster rather than making him the emergency QB.

[pcgd]

Another thing, not all team's take advantage of the emergency QB (or 3rd QB, whatever you want to call it) on the roster.

The Randle El question is an interesting one. I want to say "Of course not" but in reality, how is he playing QB any different from the Backup playing QB? There must be other rules that make anyone designated as a QB on the roster a special case...

[sarcasm]

I'll try to clear up a couple of things.

The Emergency qb rule is in reference to the 3rd qb that is not active on the game day roster. Take a team that has 3 qb's on the roster. Starting qb gets hurt in the first quarter. 2nd qb comes in and stinks it up, the coach can replace the backup with the 3rd emergency qb, but the back up and or starter cannot return to the game unless the 3rd qb is injured.

Let's say that team is the Redskins and they have Campbell/Collins/Former Hawaii QB listed at #3. Campbell goes down in the first Quarter. Collins comes in to play qb. If he's ineffective, then the team could put Randel El in at qb and Collins could return. If the Hawaii qb played, then Campbell or Collins could not return at qb unless the Hawaii qb was injured, though Randel El could play freely or rotate into qb with the Hawaii guy every other play as could any other player on the active game day roster.

Take the Colts for example. They generally go with 2 qb's. Manning & Sorgi. Manning has missed one play due to injury(broken jaw) in his career. Mark Rypien came in, fumbled the ball, and Manning returned the next series.

If Manning and Sorgi were to both go down, the Colts typically don't have an emergency 3rd qb listed, so they would have to turn to a player on the active game roster, likely a player that played qb in high school. In years past it was rumored to be punter Hunter Smith, but he is no longer on the team and moving forward they might carry 3 qb's, Manning, Sorgi and Painter(draft pick from Purdue).

If the Dolphin opened a game in the Wildcat with Ronnie Brown taking the snap and they had 3 qb's on the roster, Pennington/Hennee and an emergency qb, then the same rules would apply to the emergency qb. But if Brown starts in the wildcat, and Pennington plays the majoirty of the first half yet is ineffective and they go to Hennee at half time and he's even worse, then the could plug Pennington back in freely.

Hester was allowed to keep 23, because it's an eligible #, and I did read where the reekbok/Chad Johnson and the Spanish translation for #'s eight and five had little bearing on it, but it was taken into consideration.

[Epiphanic]

I'm not sure I followed all that, but I'm gonna try. Basically, players that are on the "game day roster" are free to play any position on the field at any time without restriction. The emergency QB, who is not on the game day roster, activates these restrictions upon his entrance of the game. Specifically, once he comes in, the 1st or 2nd string QBs cannot return (provided no injury to the emergency QB) to the game, but the another player (Ronnie Brown, for example) could line up as the QB in the wildcat along with the e-QB.

[BBTV]

I don't think it's just the 1st and 2nd string qbs that couldn't return - it's ANY qb who has taken a snap. Otherwise, who determines who is the 2nd string QB? A coach could say that the real 2nd string QB is really a backup punter who happens to take some snaps, or that the WR who lines up in wildcat is really the 2nd string QB. Too many ways around the rule.

[FiddySicks]

Yikes, my head hurts

[Gothamite]

Man if Reebok did half the crap you guys think they do there is no way they'd still be in business...

Hester is still listed as a Punt Returner/Kick Returner and that could have something to do with it.

Plus the league does make exceptions and they might have for Hester.

Such as?

[totc]

Man if Reebok did half the crap you guys think they do there is no way they'd still be in business...

Hester is still listed as a Punt Returner/Kick Returner and that could have something to do with it.

Plus the league does make exceptions and they might have for Hester.

Such as?

Would Keyshawn Johnson or Harold Carmichael been exceptions? If not, my bad.

[chakfu]

Let's say that team is the Redskins and they have Campbell/Collins/Former Hawaii QB listed at #3. Campbell goes down in the first Quarter. Collins comes in to play qb. If he's ineffective, then the team could put Randel El in at qb and Collins could return. If the Hawaii qb played, then Campbell or Collins could not return at qb unless the Hawaii qb was injured, though Randel El could play freely or rotate into qb with the Hawaii guy every other play as could any other player on the active game day roster.

Why would Randel El be able to rotate in to QB? Because he is not "officially" listed as a QB? In this case, I would think that Campbell, Collins, and Randel El would be considered 1st, 2nd, and 3rd QBs, and that all three would be ineligible once the emergency QB (who in this case is QB #4) comes in.

I don't see why Randel El rotating in at QB would be any different than Campbell or Collins rotating in freely. Unless it has to do with the listed position.

As for Hester, doesn't his number just get grandfathered in like Rod Bernstine's or Todd Christensen's? That thing about pct of plays sounds completely absurd.

Anyone remember John Gerak on the Vikings? He was a guard #66 but injuries hit hard at TE, and he played some TE and switched to #46. But I think he went back and forth with the jersey numbers depending on which position he was mainly going to play that day.

[chakfu]

I'm not sure I followed all that, but I'm gonna try. Basically, players that are on the "game day roster" are free to play any position on the field at any time without restriction. The emergency QB, who is not on the game day roster, activates these restrictions upon his entrance of the game. Specifically, once he comes in, the 1st or 2nd string QBs cannot return (provided no injury to the emergency QB) to the game, but the another player (Ronnie Brown, for example) could line up as the QB in the wildcat along with the e-QB.

That's definitely the gist of it, except I don't think we've clarified anything with regards to the wildcat or multi-position players.

It's so easy to confuse things if imprecise language is used - people talk about the "3rd QB" without regard to whether that 3rd QB is listed on the 45 man active gameday roster, or whether they are an emergency 3rd QB who is on the 53 man roster but not the 45 man gameday roster. I guess that's because the 3rd QB is basically never on the gameday roster and is always just the emergency guy, but that doesn't excuse using sloppy language when explaining something this complicated. I wonder if a team could have 3 active QB's plus a 4th emergency QB?

Another part of the rule is that it only applies if the E-QB enters the game in the 1st 3 quarters.

[PackerBadger]

Vikings TE Jim Kleinsasser wears #40.

I think the problem is the combination of the aforementioned more-receivers trend and the number of teams that retired numbers in the 80s for defensive players in the past. (Former Viking Alan Page wore #88, for instance, and former Colt Gino Marchetti wore #89.)

[dmr]

I'm not sure I followed all that, but I'm gonna try. Basically, players that are on the "game day roster" are free to play any position on the field at any time without restriction. The emergency QB, who is not on the game day roster, activates these restrictions upon his entrance of the game. Specifically, once he comes in, the 1st or 2nd string QBs cannot return (provided no injury to the emergency QB) to the game, but the another player (Ronnie Brown, for example) could line up as the QB in the wildcat along with the e-QB.

That's definitely the gist of it, except I don't think we've clarified anything with regards to the wildcat or multi-position players.

It's so easy to confuse things if imprecise language is used - people talk about the "3rd QB" without regard to whether that 3rd QB is listed on the 45 man active gameday roster, or whether they are an emergency 3rd QB who is on the 53 man roster but not the 45 man gameday roster. I guess that's because the 3rd QB is basically never on the gameday roster and is always just the emergency guy, but that doesn't excuse using sloppy language when explaining something this complicated. I wonder if a team could have 3 active QB's plus a 4th emergency QB?

Another part of the rule is that it only applies if the E-QB enters the game in the 1st 3 quarters.

Okay, I believe (not 100% positive) that the Seahawks for one game last year had 3 QB's on the 45 man gameday roster. Due to injuries the starter was S. Wallace, 2nd string was M. Hasselbeck, 3rd was Charlie Frye, in this case the 4th/Emergency QB was Deon Grant (SS) who was also on the 45 man roster as the starting SS. M. Hasselbeck was injured, listed as doubtful, but C. Frye had just been acquired, so all three were placed on the Gameday roster.

During th injured riddled 2008 season the Seahawks also saw these QB depth charts, Wallace/Hasselbeck/Grant, Wallace/Frye/Grant, and Frye/Wallace/Grant, all which had all three QB's on the 45 man roster.

I think if all three QB's are listed on the 45 man roster, they can be interchanged freely. It is only if a player has to be activated to the 45 man roster is one of the previous QB's ineligible.

~~the dmr~~

[chakfu]

Okay, I believe (not 100% positive) that the Seahawks for one game last year had 3 QB's on the 45 man gameday roster. Due to injuries the starter was S. Wallace, 2nd string was M. Hasselbeck, 3rd was Charlie Frye, in this case the 4th/Emergency QB was Deon Grant (SS) who was also on the 45 man roster as the starting SS. M. Hasselbeck was injured, listed as doubtful, but C. Frye had just been acquired, so all three were placed on the Gameday roster.

I think if all three QB's are listed on the 45 man roster, they can be interchanged freely. It is only if a player has to be activated to the 45 man roster is one of the previous QB's ineligible.

~~the dmr~~

Well yeah, that part seems obvious and straightforward. Anyone on the 45 man roster can be interchanged freely. Of course the rules to a 46th man, the nonroster emergency QB.

I think it's confusing to refer to Deon Grant as an "emergency" QB because we're usually using that term to refer to the 46th man on the roster. Interesting to see an example of a team keeping 3 qb's on the active roster though, I guess it does happen sometimes.

A little googling about this finds a lot of discussions on Falcons and Dolphins message boards - but they are all going back and forth about the fairly cut and dried aspects of the rule (like we mostly have here...)

The one thing that still seems confusing is: If the 46th, non-roster, emergency QB comes into the game before the 4th quarter - what happens to non QB's who have taken or may take snaps at QB in the wildcat? I have yet to see any real answer on that one. Everything else seems very straightforward.

[jc...]

You have to be listed at your real #1 position because of the franchise player rule. If you are fake listed as a QB to get #5 as a RB, your "franchised player" salary may be more or less because its an average of the top 5 at your position.