Brandon Marshall to Wear #0

[infrared41]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

Too many receivers, not enough numbers would be my guess.

[BBTV]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

Too many receivers, not enough numbers would be my guess.

No, it's not completely that. I think that the 80-89 numbers are just seen as "traditional" (read: old) by the younger players, and they just like going with the lower numbers. Maybe they think that a number starting with 1 makes them faster or something. It's like of like 80s = Cadillac, 10s = Lexus. Same price, different image. When I was in HS ('94), our receivers fought over 1, 2, 3, etc. NOBODY wanted a number in the 80s - not even our TE, who went with 44.

[rams80]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

Too many receivers, not enough numbers would be my guess.

Keyshawn Johnson couldn't count that high or something.

[infrared41]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

Too many receivers, not enough numbers would be my guess.

No, it's not completely that. I think that the 80-89 numbers are just seen as "traditional" (read: old) by the younger players, and they just like going with the lower numbers. Maybe they think that a number starting with 1 makes them faster or something. It's like of like 80s = Cadillac, 10s = Lexus. Same price, different image. When I was in HS ('94), our receivers fought over 1, 2, 3, etc. NOBODY wanted a number in the 80s - not even our TE, who went with 44.

I thought the NFL adding 10-19 numbers for receivers was a fairly recent development. Didn't it have something to do with retired numbers and not enough 80's numbers being available or something like that? I may be wrong but I could swear I heard something to that effect.

Judges?

[rams80]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

Too many receivers, not enough numbers would be my guess.

No, it's not completely that. I think that the 80-89 numbers are just seen as "traditional" (read: old) by the younger players, and they just like going with the lower numbers. Maybe they think that a number starting with 1 makes them faster or something. It's like of like 80s = Cadillac, 10s = Lexus. Same price, different image. When I was in HS ('94), our receivers fought over 1, 2, 3, etc. NOBODY wanted a number in the 80s - not even our TE, who went with 44.

I thought the NFL adding 10-19 numbers for receivers was a fairly recent development. Didn't it have something to do with retired numbers and not enough 80's numbers being available or something like that? I may be wrong but I could swear I heard something to that effect.

Judges?

That's the actual reason for the Keyshawn Johnson rule. (Well...that and the increased number of Tight Ends and Wideouts on a given NFL roster).

[Cujo]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

Too many receivers, not enough numbers would be my guess.

No, it's not completely that. I think that the 80-89 numbers are just seen as "traditional" (read: old) by the younger players, and they just like going with the lower numbers. Maybe they think that a number starting with 1 makes them faster or something. It's like of like 80s = Cadillac, 10s = Lexus. Same price, different image. When I was in HS ('94), our receivers fought over 1, 2, 3, etc. NOBODY wanted a number in the 80s - not even our TE, who went with 44.

I thought the NFL adding 10-19 numbers for receivers was a fairly recent development. Didn't it have something to do with retired numbers and not enough 80's numbers being available or something like that? I may be wrong but I could swear I heard something to that effect.

Judges?

That's the actual reason for the Keyshawn Johnson rule. (Well...that and the increased number of Tight Ends and Wideouts on a given NFL roster).

I think a better option would be to restrict WRs to #80-89 and have tight ends wear #40-49.

For some reason, it just seems wrong to see WRs and QBs fighting over the same numbers.

[TornadoGTS]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

You as a Jets fan should know that answer.

Short Answer: Keyshawn Johnson

Long Answer: Keyshawn wearing 19 kinda broke the traditional 80-89 number set, then it eventually caught on with other receivers to the point that the NFL added 10-19 to the 80-89 number set for acceptable WR numbers.

[oddball]

I'd personally love to see recievers and rb's wearing single digits.

[TornadoGTS]

I'd personally love to see recievers and rb's wearing single digits.

I think its alright for high school and college, but to me it looks cheesy in the NFL.

[Cujo]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

You as a Jets fan should know that answer.

Short Answer: Keyshawn Johnson

Long Answer: Keyshawn wearing 19 kinda broke the traditional 80-89 number set, then it eventually caught on with other receivers to the point that the NFL added 10-19 to the 80-89 number set for acceptable WR numbers.

Didn't Keyshawn wear #19 because all numbers in the 80s were taken when by the time he ended his rookie holdout with the Jets? That's what I always figured.

[DustDevil61]

The number 0 (or 00) needs more love.

While I wouldn't like it for recievers, etc., I think the number 0 should be allowed to be worn by quarterbacks and kickers/punters, and 00 allowed to be worn by wide receivers/tight ends or linemen (one or the other, out of WR/TE OL) on offense, or defensive linemen (including ends, as I see them as DL) and linebackers. If you do just OL, then 00 would fit roughly in the OL/DL/LB numbering scheme, as numbers 50-59 do for all positions.

If a wide receiver or tight end is wearing 00, then 00 can only be used for a wide receiver or tight end as long as that player is on the team, to avoid "eligable reciever" confusion.

In other words, 00 would be interchangable with WR/TE numbers (10-19, 40-49, 80-89) and OL/DL/LB numbers (50-59), depending on who is wearing the number.

Only one person on a team can wear 0 or 00 (ex.: if a QB is wearing 0, then no one else can wear 00), as they are the same number.

[illwauk]

And Davone Bess said he's not gonna give up #15 for any price, so I could easily see Marshall taking Ginn's #19.

What ever happened to wide receivers using #80-89? It's just weird seeing all these younger WRs wearing the same digits as quarterbacks and kickers.

Too many receivers, not enough numbers would be my guess.

Pretty much. Rookie WRs who played those positions usually got stuck with numbers 10-19 in preseason and then had to go through the trouble of converting to a 80s number before the season started. Not to mention that they cram TE's into the 80s sandbox as well while QBs, Ks and Ps usually take up no more than 5 roster spots, yet had 1-19 all to themselves. It just made practical sense to open up 10-19 to wideouts.

Of course, I've always thought the NFL's numbering system was far too rigid. We don't need position-based numbers in other sports... even hockey has gotten away from the "goalie wears #1" guideline... so why do we need them in football?

[The_Admiral]

I don't think we really do, except maybe for offensive linemen. Or we could make all offensive linemen eligible receivers. There's a twist.

[BlueSky]

Can someone explain again how Dallas Clark gets away with wearing #44? He's clearly a TE but the NFL allows it.

[BBTV]

He probably had it during training camp due to a lack of 80s, and just kept it. It's probably not enforced as strictly since TEs rarely line up split out, while players with 40s (fullbacks, H-backs, etc.) routinely line up in spots where a TE could be. It's not too uncommon for TEs to be in the backfield as FBs in some shifts, so the TE designation is a little more arbitrary than a WR one would be. After Keith Jackson left Phila as a free agent, Keith Byars took most of the snaps at TE wearing 41, and wasn't made to switch.

[apeman33]

Some clarifications as I know or (mis-)remember them.

At first, when all the 80's numbers ran out, extra receivers were restricted to 16-19. And those were usually guys who were signed during the season to replace injured players.

My guess is Keyshawn was allowed to keep No. 19, even though the rule at the time was that he should have switched to 8X once it became available, was that maybe there were players on IR at the time who were wearing 80's, so an 8X number still wasn't available. After one year with 19, he was eligible to keep it forever under the rules at that time. If anyone has the time to double-check that, it's a theory with some merit. I don't know of any other reason that he wasn't made to switch under the rules at that time.

I think this may have also applied to Dallas Clark. He kept 44 because there were no 80's and after one season, he became eligible to wear 44 the rest of his career. The Colts have retired 82 and 89 and so only have eight numbers in that range available, which doesn't work in this era where teams have probably 7-8 WR's and 2-3 TE's. In the past, teams had to issue retired 8X numbers because the NFL number rules had to flexibility.

I don't know if it's actually written in the rulebook as the 10-19 for WRs is now, but it's generally accepted now that if there are no 80s left for tight ends, they get numbers in the 40s.

0 and 00 are OK in the pre-season. Bryan Cox wore 0 in the pre-season with the Partiots a few years back, then switched to 51 for the regular season.

Re: Keith Byars. At the time, players who converted from one eligible position to another didn't have to change numbers, so he could keep 41. There was a TE named Johnstone who played for the Chargers about 10-15 years ago. He was switched to running back but kept his old number, 83. Then he signed with the Broncos and was never heard from again.

When the NFL drew up the numbering rules in the mid-70's, the numbers for offensive linemen were very specific. Centers could only wear 50-59. Guards were 60-69 and tackles 70-79 (Although once you got the number, you could keep it if you moved to another position within the offensive line). I think the NFL has lifted the restrictions so any offensive lineman can wear 50-79, regardless of where he plays.

The original rules also didn't account for 90-99. Some players on the defensive line wore numbers in that range anyway, but I don't think they were specifically addressed until the late 80's, when 90-99 became extended to linebackers as well as defensive linemen.

0 and 00 are illegal in the NHL. The NBA considers 0 and 00 the same number, so both can't be worn by players on the same team. Baseball has no rules on numbers.

[MDC]

I think its pretty weird the way that players from certain positions in all sports group together at some numbers, it seems weird. For example, in the MLB there are loads of pitchers that wear 30-39 and some 40s, but you dont see a lot of them wearing single digit numbers, which usually are taken by outfielders and middle infielders. In basketball, a lot of point guards wear 1, and a lot of centers wear random 50s numbers, and a lot of 30-39 numbers. Its weird. A typical number combo in the NBA is like PG=1, SG=23, SF=15, PF=21, C=34. interesting

[The_Admiral]

0 and 00 are illegal in the NHL.

This is because the Compuware program for player statistics has a glitch and thinks that a player who wears #0 does not exist. This doesn't happen in legitimate sports leagues.

[CJR]

0 and 00 are illegal in the NHL.

This is because the Compuware program for player statistics has a glitch and thinks that a player who wears #0 does not exist. This doesn't happen in legitimate sports leagues.

I thought it was IBM's system that did that. The criticism stands either way.

[rob4671]

A WR wearing 10-19 is nothing new. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Eagle great Harold Carmichael. He wore 17 during the 70's and early 80's.