Football is already back, but for me it does not feel like it has really started until the NFL season starts which it does this Thursday.
While every season brings with it some rule changes and such, the biggest one for me is purely an aesthetic one I am not a fan. Starting this season, players can now wear whatever jersey number they want.
I know, it is a stupid thing no one really is complaining about outside of maybe some jersey collectors out there who I guess have to buy certain players jerseys again if they have gone and changed their jersey.
I am warning you right away, this is one of those arguments where someone is wanting the status quo to stay for no other reason than because they are used to it.
I believe just because something is a tradition is not a good enough reason for it to not change or evolve. As a contradiction and a fan of NFL history, I don’t like this though.
I blame youth, high school and college football number culture and Keyshawn Johnson specifically. Somewhere lost to time, it became cool for skill position or playmaker types (wide receivers, running backs, defensive backs, linebackers) to wear the single digit or teen numbers at the lower levels of football.
Maybe because they want to be on the bottom row of team pictures organized by jersey number. Maybe because single digit numbers also are wanted in other sports and they want to match that jersey number as well. Who knows after all these years why it is considered cool.
Traditionally in the NFL these numbers were reserved only for quarterbacks and kickers. Running backs and defensive backs had numbers 20-49 while receivers and tight ends had all of the 80-89, with the odd tight end maybe having a number in the 40s. Linebackers had all of the 50-59.

To read the rest of this rant, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.