It’s rare to see an organization do something like this.
The New York Giants announced Wednesday that rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers has received permission from the family of Hall of Famer Ray Flaherty to retire the No. 1 jersey, which has not been used since 1935.
This number was the first in the history of professional football to be discontinued by a team.
Nabers had previously worn number 9 during training camp and preseason, but that number is also used by veteran kicker Graham Gano.
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Nabers said on the Giants’ website that after seeing his limited options, he didn’t want to pay a teammate money for a number, so he approached Giants owner John Mara about a number that was no longer in use:
“Everyone else’s number was already taken,” Nabers said. “I didn’t feel like buying someone else’s number. I looked at discarded jerseys and number one stood out. So I asked John Mara about it. He said, ‘We could try it.’ So we tried it.”
Mara reportedly initially rejected the idea before deciding to contact the Flaherty family.
According to Flaherty’s son Ray Flaherty Jr., it took a while for the whole family to get on board:
“There were several things,” Flaherty said. “Probably the biggest is that I consulted my family. I have two sons and a daughter. And of course, this is her grandfather. At first, my daughter wasn’t so keen on it. And she was the one who was able to bring herself to do it. Finally, she said, ‘This might bring him luck. Number one might be a good number for him.’ She gave in. We thought that was the right thing to do.”
Flaherty played for the Giants from 1929 to 1935, winning the 1934 NFL championship game. Legend has it that it was his idea for the team to wear sneakers after a night of freezing rain, the traction of which helped them win what became known as the “Sneakers Game.”
He died in 1994 at the age of 90.
The Giants selected Malik Nabers with the No. 6 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft last April and so far he has impressed the team and the Giants fan base.
The Giants open the season on September 8 against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium.
