Aaron Rodgers has worn No. 12 throughout his NFL career, but with Monday's trade to the New York Jets that appears to be changing. No one has worn that number for the Jets in nearly three decades as the team retired it for legendary quarterback Joe Namath in 1985.
Rodgers is expected to change his number to No. 8 when he arrives to the Jets, according toAdam Schefter. The former Green Bay Packers star wore that jersey number in college at the University of California, Berkeley while playing for the California Golden Bears.
Namath, prior to the Rodgers deal and during all the trade rumors, gave his blessing for Rodgers to wear No. 12.
"I'm a big Rodgers fan, and I noticed that he wears No. 12, of course. I'm thinking, well man, if we get him on our side, is he still going to wearing No. 12? Because the number was retired years ago," Namath said.
Namath continued: "Yeah, I want him to wear his number. We established ourselves and we've got a real respect for our numbers, and Aaron Rodgers, God almighty, yeah! It'd be great to have him in New York."
Despite the go ahead from Namath, Rodgers is expected to go back to his college roots and wear the eight jersey.
The number worked out well for Rodgers then, who set the lowest single-season and career-interception rates while in college. In 2003, tied the school record for most 300-yard games in a season with five. In 2004, he set a school record for completed passes (26) and tied the NCAA record for consecutive passes completed in one game (23).
With Rodgers set to wear No. 8, expect that Jets jersey to become the franchise's new highest-selling jersey.
