Posted: Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:40 AM - 9,187 Readers
By: Rick Cantu
photo by Bret Gerbe
LBJ running back Cameron Brown wears jersey No. 29 because he aspires to play like Eric Dickerson. Jaguars receiver Elijah Cash wears No. 8 because it's the sign of infinity when turned sideways.
For many high school football players in Central Texas, there are personal stories behind their jersey numbers. Some want to honor someone close to them. Others have odd reasons for preferring a specific number.
"I wanted to wear No. 39 so I could represent my 78739 ZIP code," Bowie fullback David Kerr said. "The coaches gave me No. 48 — the ZIP code of the neighborhood right next to mine. Kind of the opposite approach."
Most area coaches said there's no rhyme or reason to how they distribute jerseys. The University Interscholastic League follows NCAA rules on the matter, and Austin school district Athletic Director Tommy Cox identified these specific guidelines:
Eligible receivers must wear jerseys between 1 to 49 or 80 to 99.
Five offensive players on the line of scrimmage must be numbered from 50 to 79.
Players are prohibited from wearing a number preceded by a 0.
Defensive players may wear any number, but the NCAA recommends specific numbers for offensive linemen: 50 to 59 for centers, 60 to 69 for guards and 70 to 79 for tackles.
The system of assigning jersey numbers to certain positions was initiated by the National Football League in 1952.
Cox added that high school football teams can have players with duplicate numbers, "as long as they're not on the field at the same time."
Duplicate numbers can be found on college teams that suit up more than 100 players. At the University of Texas, quarterback Colt McCoy and safety Earl Thomas share jersey No. 12, but it's legal because they are never on the field at the same time.
LBJ's Brown and Cash said their jersey numbers were heartfelt choices.
Brown said his grandmother, who passed away July 4, always stressed that he needed to be a leader.
"I want to bring a whole new meaning to No. 29," Brown said. "I wanted to take it back to the old days (of the NFL) and wear No. 29 because Eric Dickerson was a legend, a standout individual leader, and that's what I want to be."
Cash, meanwhile, said the infinity sign has special meaning.
"It pretty much shows that I keep going and going, and I'll never give in," he said.
Central Texas coaches, such as Westlake's Darren Allman, Austin High's L.D. Williams, Jerry Vance of Liberty Hill and Lago Vista's Alan Haire said players had personal ties to jersey numbers when they were in high school, too.
Allman was a junior at Odessa Permian when he waited in line to receive his jersey. An aspiring quarterback, he expected to receive No. 20 or No. 25 — the jerseys reserved for the starting quarterback and his main backup.
"When they gave me No. 27, I was upset because they were moving me to safety," Allman said Thursday. "I wore it all the way through college (at Hardin-Simmons), and my son wears it today on his Pop Warner team."
Williams was issued No. 57 on a pee-wee football team coached by his father. It was the final jersey handed out, he recalled, but "I wore it with pride."
Haire, a high school quarterback at Salado, wore No. 7 in high school because his favorite player was John Elway.
Quarterbacks, such as Lake Travis junior Michael Brewer and Mike McNamara of St. Michael's, have chosen their numbers to honor other QBs, too.
Brewer, who has been wearing No. 16 since he was in the sixth grade, simply wanted to follow his father, Robert, who wore the same jersey while playing quarterback for the University of Texas from 1981-82.
McNamara is a longtime Brett Favre fan. So when teammate Lanham Bass, a standout receiver who wore jersey No. 4, graduated, McNamara grabbed it.
Lake Travis linebacker Quinton Crow, the team's leading tackler the past two seasons, chose No. 42 because former Cavaliers linebacker Mike DeWitt was his role model.
"Someday I'd like to see that jersey become a tradition for other linebackers that come through Lake Travis," Crow said.
St. Michael's safety Joey Bishop wears No. 26 because the jersey fits. When he was a 140-pound freshman he was issued No. 6 — decorated with a 2XL tag.
"I asked coach (Ed) McCabe for the smallest jersey they had left, and they gave me 26, which I've worn ever since," Bishop said. "After four years, it's my lucky number now."
Bowie wide receiver DeAndre Perry said that initially only his family knew why he picked jersey No. 2.
"I chose it because there are only two things that describe me on the football field — hard worker and dedicated," he said. "My fourth-grade coach told me in practice that I was a hard worker and he could tell I was dedicated to the sport."
Connally senior linebacker Zak Aossey said injuries prevented him from playing during his freshman season and for half of his sophomore year. By the time he had healed from a broken ankle, "all the numbers I wanted were gone."
Aossey said a friend suggested No. 44, which he continues to wear.
"It's ironic because when I look back at all my old football photographs, I was always No. 44," he said. "So I guess this was meant to be."
Anderson teammates Anthony Gonzales and Connor Sheehan were issued jersey Nos. 52 and 44, no questions asked.
Gonzales said he felt such "shock and disbelief" when he was named to the Trojans varsity as a sophomore, it did not matter what jersey number he wore.
"So after playing in all these games after three years," he said, "it's now become a sacred number to me."
Sheehan said he saw nothing special about No. 44 until he learned that an NFL linebacker with pretty decent credentials wore that jersey in college.
"I found out that Brian Urlacher had that number at the University of New Mexico," he said, "and I'm doing my best to represent it."
