It’s just a number, right?
Wrong.
For professional athletes, their jersey number can be very important to them. To their performance? No, but to them personally? Absolutely. There is a reason players will pay a lot of money to get a number they desire.
Up until last year, when the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired Joe Haden via free agency, the former Florida Gator had worn nothing but No. 23 since he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. But safety Mike Mitchell owned the 23 for the black-and-gold.
Apparently, Mitchell wasn’t about to sell his number, so Haden had to buy No.