Smilin Assassin
06-26-2005, 05:22 PM
Receivers looking out for numbers with '1'
By Adam Schefter
Special to NFL.com
Adam Schefter's "Around the League" reports and commentaries can be seen regularly on NFL Total Access.
(June 24, 2005) -- Here's the biggest difference between the NBA and the NFL. The NBA's draft is geared around teens. The NFL's players want numbers in their teens.
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Right now, the only trend in sports as hot as retro jerseys, is wide receivers who want jerseys with a number in the teens.
Seemingly each big-name receiver that entered the league, or changed teams, wants one.
This off-season, wide receiver Plaxico Burress grabbed No. 17 in New York, and Braylon Edwards grabbed No. 17 in Cleveland.
To highlight the trend, Randy Moss selected No. 18 in Oakland. Then, to cap it off, Moss's replacement Troy Williamson picked No. 19 Minnesota, Joe Jurevicius No. 19 in Seattle and Jerry Rice No. 19 in Denver. See, Rice is old, but not too old to know cool.
But this is a trend that, upon closer study, really goes back to last year. The first three wide receivers picked in the 2004 draft -- Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, Detroit's Roy Williams and Jacksonville's Reggie Williams -- each opted for the ordinarily quarterback number, 11.
Now the demand for 11 has been exceeded by the desire for 17, 18, and 19 -- nothing like the 80s that the great wide receivers wore for years. The 80s are as out as those orange uniforms the Broncos wore during that decade. ???
(Was that supposed to be cute?)
Used to be that, once the regular season kicked off, the only receiver we ever saw with a number in the teens was the great Lance Allworth.
But then, back in 1996, shortly after becoming the No. 1 overall pick, wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson sought and received permission from NFL headquarters to be a trendsetter, a pioneer. To wear No. 19.
Now there's an outbreak of mature and experienced wide receivers who want to do the same. They're going back to their teens.
By Adam Schefter
Special to NFL.com
Adam Schefter's "Around the League" reports and commentaries can be seen regularly on NFL Total Access.
(June 24, 2005) -- Here's the biggest difference between the NBA and the NFL. The NBA's draft is geared around teens. The NFL's players want numbers in their teens.
NFL Network
NFL Network
Analysis, opinions, features and more!
Download Super Bowl XXXIX radio broadcasts and highlights to your MP3 player!
Field Pass
Listen LIVE to NFL games, plus watch video news and features of your favorite team.
Right now, the only trend in sports as hot as retro jerseys, is wide receivers who want jerseys with a number in the teens.
Seemingly each big-name receiver that entered the league, or changed teams, wants one.
This off-season, wide receiver Plaxico Burress grabbed No. 17 in New York, and Braylon Edwards grabbed No. 17 in Cleveland.
To highlight the trend, Randy Moss selected No. 18 in Oakland. Then, to cap it off, Moss's replacement Troy Williamson picked No. 19 Minnesota, Joe Jurevicius No. 19 in Seattle and Jerry Rice No. 19 in Denver. See, Rice is old, but not too old to know cool.
But this is a trend that, upon closer study, really goes back to last year. The first three wide receivers picked in the 2004 draft -- Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, Detroit's Roy Williams and Jacksonville's Reggie Williams -- each opted for the ordinarily quarterback number, 11.
Now the demand for 11 has been exceeded by the desire for 17, 18, and 19 -- nothing like the 80s that the great wide receivers wore for years. The 80s are as out as those orange uniforms the Broncos wore during that decade. ???
(Was that supposed to be cute?)
Used to be that, once the regular season kicked off, the only receiver we ever saw with a number in the teens was the great Lance Allworth.
But then, back in 1996, shortly after becoming the No. 1 overall pick, wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson sought and received permission from NFL headquarters to be a trendsetter, a pioneer. To wear No. 19.
Now there's an outbreak of mature and experienced wide receivers who want to do the same. They're going back to their teens.