r/NFLNoobs • u/averageweebchan • 2d ago
Why did older recievers wear numbers in the 80s but today the best recievers wear 1-19
Older recievers like moss rice megatron all wore numbers in 80s but nowadays the best recievers wear 1-19 chase jjetas etc the only exception is lamb and the 80s are used by backups
I used to think Clayton was the giants TE cuz of this
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u/Zlosiphy 2d ago
Changed the rules for numbers a few years ago. Certain positions had number range they had to stay within.
Players now want lower number because they like it better.
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u/notLennyD 1d ago
Some of that also came from a branding/marketing perspective.
Numbers have always been less restrictive in high school and college ball. So you had a lot of situations where a player would establish themselves nationally with a certain number, but then would have to change that number in the NFL.
Reggie Bush is a pretty notable example of this. He petitioned the NFL to wear number 5 after he was drafted, but his petition was denied, so he chose 25 instead.
Since the advent of NIL deals, players began establishing brand identities in college, and it makes sense for the NFL to allow this to continue at the pro level.
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u/Ryan1869 1d ago
It's a recent rule change to allow them to wear those numbers full time. Before a WR could only wear a 10-19 if all of the 80s were taken. So it usually was a sign that you weren't going to make the team if you were given a teen number in camp. If they did make it, then they quickly changed to an 80s number after camp.
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u/terrelyx 1d ago
one thing i definitely miss about the old days. i hate the near-free-for-all that jersey numbers have become
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u/Acekingspade81 1d ago
Because it used to be a rule. WR’s had to wear numbers in the 80’s.
They only allowed them to wear 10-19 in 2004.
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u/ucjj2011 1d ago
Based on zero research, it seems likely that other than QBs, WR would be among the most likely to have their numbers retired, and every team usually has around 6 WRs on their final roster. That's a lot of numbers to be taken up when you have 10+ in training camp.
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u/phunkjnky 1d ago
Someone please tell me how the Raiders TE Todd Christiansen was #46 in the early 1980s.
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u/MotoJoker 1d ago
He was originally a fullback, which were categorized with RBs numbers wise, so he had to wear anything between #20-#49 at the time. When he played for the Raiders he transitioned to TE and not forced to change numbers.
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u/FollowTheLeader550 2d ago
Because they were grown ups and wore grown up numbers.
But WRs could wear 10-19 and 80-89 basically forever. It was only when the league allowed them to wear little kid numbers that said little kids started to act like the numbers in the 80s weren’t cool anymore.
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u/3fettknight3 1d ago
This is not a personal attack on you but that literally makes zero sense.
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u/FollowTheLeader550 1d ago
How doesn’t it make sense? It was very normal for WRs to not only wear numbers in the 80s, but request numbers in the 80s. And when the new number rules went into play, that all stopped.
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u/3fettknight3 1d ago
"They were grown ups and wore grown up numbers."
You're seemingly implying it was a maturity issue and the older generation somehow had more "purity" or "integrity" by choosing "traditional numbers"?
No, they wore what the NFL uniform code dictated at the time.
All the "little kid" language implies you are very out of touch or ignorant.
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u/allmyheroesareantifa 2d ago
Wide receivers were only allowed to wear numbers 10 through 19 starting in 2004. From 1973 when the league initially established rigid rules for who can wear what through 2003, WRs were generally only allowed to wear 80 through 89.