So much for Jason Pierre-Paul’s No. 14 jersey. With his first choices already taken, the New Orleans Saints defensive end initially wanted to wear No. 14 to represent his 14th season in the NFL after signing with the Saints practice squad, but overly complicated jersey rules wouldn’t let it stand. Pierre-Paul was reassigned to the No. 54 jersey after being activated for Sunday’s game with the Atlanta Falcons.
Now, No. 54 is aesthetically a better choice for a big defensive lineman than No. 14. But why couldn’t Pierre-Paul wear it after donning the No. 4 jersey with the Baltimore Ravens last year? NFL jersey rules were changed in recent years to allow linebackers to wear Nos. 0 through 59, and the Ravens listed Pierre-Paul at outside linebacker, which allowed the unique choice.
But the Saints wanted to list Pierre-Paul at defensive end, and NFL rules dictate that defensive linemen are only allowed to choose from Nos. 50 to 79 and 90 to 99. If the Saints had listed Pierre-Paul at outside linebacker in the first place he could have kept the number he wanted, but that’s not something they must’ve wanted to add to their spreadsheet. Oh well.
At any rate: Pierre-Paul was activated for Sunday’s game with the Falcons, playing behind Cameron Jordan, Carl Granderson, and Tanoh Kpassagnon with Isaiah Foskey still recovering from a quadriceps injury.
