When the NFL approved a new rule that allows skill players to wear single-digit numbers, both Jalen Ramsey and Robert Woods expressed a strong desire to switch to No. 2. Woods wore 17 with the Rams last year and Ramsey was in 20, but both wanted to make a change ahead of the 2021 campaign.
Woods wound up getting No. 2 thanks to his history of wearing the number since he was a kid in Southern California, while Ramsey took 5 for this season. We knew why Woods wanted No. 2, but Ramsey didn’t share why he was also in pursuit of that digit.
After practice at training camp this week, Ramsey finally shed some light on his reasoning, and it was all about his selfless attitude.
“I think everybody knows I wanted number two. The reasons for me wanting number two was really to remember I’m second, like in life. I wanted to put others before myself, so that was a big reason for me wanting number two,” he said. “During that process of me wanting number two and Woody wanting number two, I just started to think like, ‘Hey, this is one of my reasons for wanting number two is to try to put others before myself and always kind of remember that.’ He’s a kid from L.A. and it made sense for him to have it over me. The five was the other number that I was like, ‘I’ll go get,’ if there’s an issue with two just because of certain little meanings that I have internally about the number five. That’s it. Nothing crazy.”
Ramsey will keep the meaning of No. 5 to himself, but he sure looks good in that new jersey number during practice.
He and Woods are two of several Rams players who changed numbers this year. Darious Williams took No. 11, Xavier Jones switched to 25 and DeSean Jackson will wear No. 1 after initially choosing 10.
