Malik Nabers, who many believe is the next star in the making for the Giants, will wear No. 1 for his rookie season, as the number will come out of retirement.
The organization reached out to the family of the late Ray Flaherty, and was given permission to give the number to the sixth overall pick.
Flaherty, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, joined the Giants way back in 1929, and his number was the first to be retired in pro football history, per ESPN.
Jerry didn’t think much of the number being unretired for Nabers, but he was surprised by how many fans seemed to be strongly against the move.
“I heard that and I thought it was very respectful…they got the blessing from the family, and I thought we were all good,” Jerry said. “The Knicks have retired numbers where multiple guys have the same number. At some point, we’re gonna run out of numbers…I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but I think I’m wrong about this now.
“I’m surprised by some of the reaction.”
The Yankees have the No. 8 retired for two players (Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey), and Jerry believes that, at some point, numbers should come out of retirement anyway, so why not Flaherty’s, considering he debuted with the franchise nearly a century ago?
“In the year 2120, yeah, they’ll know about Lawrence Taylor for sure…but you can’t wear number 56 100 years from now?” Jerry said.
“I actually think we’re to the point with No. 3 for the Yankees, let’s get over it. The guy hit home runs 100 years ago.”