The Arizona Cardinals made a big early splash in the offseason, agreeing to a two-year contract with former Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt. He reportedly has agreed to a two-year, $31 million deal to join his former teammate, receiver DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona.
However, Watt might have to give something up. He has worn No. 99 for his entire NFL career and also wore it in college at Wisconsin.
No. 99 is one of five numbers the Cardinals have retired in their history of more than a century. That number was worn by Marshall Goldberg, who played for the Cardinals from 1939-1948 and was instrumental in the franchise’s one championship in 1947.
Goldberg died in 2006.
Either Watt will have to change numbers or the team will have to allow him to borrow the number.
This is something Watt would already have known about, so it isn’t something to necessarily know about, but is something significant either way.
Either he will don a new number or the Cardinals will have someone wearing No. 99 for the first time since 1950.
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