Arizona Cardinals cornerback Malcolm Butler wears No. 21, the number worn for the last decade by Patrick Peterson. Peterson, of course, was not re-signed and he is now a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
Despite it being the number he had worn his entire career, it wasn’t the number he wanted in Arizona.
He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to have a single-digit number.
“When I first got here, I wanted to change my number and go back to 7, but I overheard Byron Murphy talking about how he wanted it so I just stuck with 21,” he told reporters this week.
He actually showed a ton of respect to Peterson. Before he took No. 21, he “got permission from the head man of the team” to wear it. Presumably, he was referring to team owner Michael Bidwill.
“That’s no disrespect to Patrick Peterson. I’m not trying to replace him,” he said. “I’m Malcolm Butler.”
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