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Justin Fields has been wearing the same number since his freshman year in college, but that will be changing now that he’s in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers officially unveiled the jersey numbers for several new players on Thursday, and Fields was given No. 2. The former first-round pick had been wearing No. 1 since his freshman year at Georgia in 2018 and then he kept wearing it after transferring to Ohio State in 2019. Fields was able to keep the number during his first three seasons in the NFL after the Chicago Bears selected him with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
The 25-year-old probably would have liked to keep the number in Pittsburgh, but unfortunately for him, he almost certainly was forced to change it because the Steelers don’t issue No. 1 to anyone. It’s believed to be unofficially retired.
No Steelers player has worn No. 1 in a game since Gary Anderson. The former Steelers kicker, who just happens to be the team’s all-time leading scorer with 1,343 points, wore the number for 13 seasons (1982-94). Anderson last wore the number for the Steelers on Christmas Eve in 1994, and no player has worn it in a game since then (quarterback Anthony Wright was issued the number for his one season with the team in 1999, but he never played in a game).
The Steelers have three numbers that are officially retired — 70 (Ernie Stautner), 75 (Joe Greene) and 32 (Franco Harris) — and they have a few other numbers that seem to be unofficially retired like No. 1.
It’s not clear if Fields tried to get the number, but George Pickens definitely did. The Steelers receiver wore No. 1 in college and he wanted to wear it in Pittsburgh, but he got shot down.
“I tried to get No. 1, but I think it’s like sacred,” Pickens said back in December 2022, via SteelersDepot.com. “I wasn’t tweaking about it; I was like, forget it, might as well.”
The receiver ended up settling for…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/justin-fields-gets-a-new-number-why-steelers-quarterback-was-forced-to-make-a-switch-in-pittsburgh/
Author : John Breech
Publish date : 2024-04-05 14:51:48
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