Eric Decker trying to buy No. 87 New York Jets jersey from Jeff Cumberland
By Josh Hill
Wen a players joins a new team, one of the customary things for them to do is seek out their old jersey number. Unless you’re a true journeyman and have had multiple jersey numbers in your career, there’s a certain attachment to the number you wear and for fresh New York Jets’ receiver Eric Decker, that number his his old No. 87.
Decker wore No. 87 with the Denver Broncos and wore No. 7 while with the Minnesota Gophers in college. So there’s a natural attachment to his jersey number — a jersey number that is currently being worn by Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland.
NJ.com’s Dom Cosentino grabbed some quotes from Decker, who stated he’s going to try and finagle the number away from Cumberland if he can.
"“That’s a great question,” Decker said with a sigh. “I reached out to Jeff and asked him how dedicated he was to the number. We’re going to negotiate what we’re going to do with the number.“Obviously, he’s been there for his four year-tenure. That’s something that is up in the air. Maybe we can negotiate, otherwise I’ll have to find a new home and a new number.”"
Decker may end up wearing a different number on his chest, but the only number that Jets fans will truly care about is the number in his touchdown column at the end of the 2014 season. Decker is entering New York with a lot of expectations and has to prove that he’s really a No. 1 receiver and not just a product of Peyton Manning’s system.