NFL Rookie Gets Permission to Use a Retired Number

New York Giants fans might do a double-take this season: a player with a No. 1 jersey will be on the field. Rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers received permission to use the number from the family of the late Hall of Fame defensive end Ray Flaherty, reports the New York Post. Upon Flaherty's retirement in 1935, his jersey number became the first to be retired by any team in the NFL, per CNN. Nabers, the sixth overall draft pick in last year's draft, asked the team about wearing No. 1 because his college number was already taken, and the team deferred to the Flahertys.

A phone call to Ray Flaherty Jr. helped. "He seems like a fine young man," Flaherty tells the Post. "I feel really good about it after he made the call." Nabers tweeted his public thanks. "I understand the responsibility, and I will do everything in my power to honor the Flaherty family and this organization," he wrote. "I will wear the number with great pride." One caveat is that the number will go back into retirement when Nabers' time with the Giants is over. (More New York Giants stories.)