NFL jersey number rule: Why Tom Brady and others hate the new uniform changes?
NFL owners have approved a rule that will allow more players in the NFL to wear single-digit numbers. The Kansas City Chiefs submitted a proposal to owners because they ran short of numbers between 20-49. Kansas City has retired numbers 28, 33, 36, and 37 which caused the Chiefs to have a shortage.
The new number rule format lays out something like this:
- Quarterbacks, punter, kicker: 1-19
- Running back, wide receiver: 1-49, 80-89
- Defensive back: 1-49
- Linebacker: 1-59, 90-99
- Offensive linemen: 50-79
- Defensive linemen: 50-79, 80-89
Now that the rules are set into place, there are some NFL players that are not too happy about the new rule. Tom Brady is one of the players that has spoken about the new rule. Brady called the new rule 'dumb' and thinks it will bring a lot of bad football.
Why are NFL players not happy about the new number rule change?
The main reason why players are not happy about the new rule change is because of the stipulation that was tossed in by the NFL. The stipulation states that if a player wants to change their number for the 2021-2022 NFL season, they must buy out the remaining stock from their old number.
With the number of combinations and sizes that NFL jersey's come in. It could cost a player a good amount of money to buy out the remaining stock. The other situation is do the players have to buy out their old team's stock as well.
If NFL players have to buy out the remaining stock of their old team as well then it will add more to the final price that has to be paid. Players like O'Dell Beckham Jr. and DeAndre Hopkins could suffer the most from this. Some fans will say that the players are being cheap and they make millions and spend millions, so why not buy out the remaining stock?
When a player spends millions of dollars, they usually spend it on things they can use. Buying out the remaining stock of jerseys that will most likely cost them more than a million dollars doesn't exactly scream great investment. Especially beings those jerseys will most likely get thrown away or donated.
It seems that players are more concerned about buying out the remaining stock than how it will impact their play on the field. Tom Brady seems to be the only NFL player that feels like it will impact the game itself.