It turns out that Tom Brady won’t have to change his number after all.
Brady, who had spent the past 20 seasons with the Patriots wearing No. 12, signed a new deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers two weeks ago. But many quickly noticed that the No. 12 jersey was already taken by wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Typically, when a player arrives to a new team with the preferred number already taken, there’s a negotiation that takes place between those two players. Sometimes gifts or money are exchanged. Sometimes the new player just chooses a different number. But when it came to Brady and Godwin, the now-Bucs teammates reached an agreement for free, according to the team.
The Bucs tweeted out the official number change on Tuesday with Brady taking his regular No. 12 and Godwin switching to No. 14.
Godwin also shared a Photoshopped image on Instagram of him and Brady celebrating in their new numbers.
He wrote:
New number, same mentality !
Obviously, Godwin could have gotten something in return from Brady, but he opted to give up the number out of respect. He said via ESPN:
“He’s the GOAT.”
That’s a solid way to start a new quarterback-receiver relationship.
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