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Miami Dolphins RB Ollie Gordon II
The Miami Dolphins won’t seem to be in the situation that the New York Giants are. Recently, Giants first-round pick Abdul Carter approached two former Giants greats about possibly wearing their retired jersey numbers. Carter wore No. 11 at Penn State, so he asked Phil Simms if he could wear that same number. The answer was no. An even bigger long shot – and perhaps one that would really irritate Giants fans for even inquiring – was asking Lawrence Taylor about No. 56. He shouldn’t have asked Simms (even though he only won one Super Bowl), but asking L.T.? That is a big no-no because…Lawrence Taylor.
The Dolphins will not have that problem. Incoming Miami rookies have a very different and respectful approach when it comes to their Dolphins predecessors.
“I’m thinking 90 right now,” first-round pick Kenneth Grant said the day after he was selected 13th overall. “Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking about. I was going to go with number 94, but I want to be my own person instead of getting the same number as ‘Wilks’ (Christian Wilkins).”
What about other Dolphins rookies?
Oklahoma State sixth-round pick Ollie Gordon II wore 0 in college. While he’s currently wearing that number in rookie minicamps, he’s going to have to find a new one at some point because that number has already been issued to new backup quarterback Zach Wilson.
Would Gordon ask Wilson to switch with him? Maybe? Would he offer him money like Plaxico Burress did with punter Jeff Feagles when Burress joined the Giants in 2005 and wanted No. 17 (and never pay up)?
“Look, when you come to these new teams, you’ve got to respect the vets,” Gordon said humbly. “I don’t want to be on no side of the vets, I want to take in and learn from them, so I’m going cool with it. I’m going to be fine with the number I get for the first year. Like I said, I’m a team guy, so if my guy wants to put that zero on, that’s my teammate now, I’m going to respect him. He’s a big dawg and I know my boundaries. I’m going to be cool; I’m going to respect it. I just have to find something else I look good in.”
So what would he do if Wilson voluntarily handed it over to him?
“He gave it to me, I’m going to have to give him a big hug, big hug,” Gordon said. “If he didn’t, I wouldn’t even trip. I wouldn’t even go out my way to ask for it. It’s just a respect thing. If I was the vet and I just changed my number to zero and we had a younger guy coming in, I’m not giving up my number, so I wouldn’t be mad at him.”Just because it feels right doesn’t make it right.”
Wilson has worn No. 2 with the Jets and No. 4 with the Broncos, so it doesn’t seem like he’s married to any number at the pro level (he certainly hasn’t had success while wearing either number). Whether or not he’s looking to hand over his current number to a rookie remains to be seen.
The Dolphins haven’t had this issue in the past
Alain Poupart of Sports Illustrated notes that the Dolphins have had the topic come up before when Tua Tagovailoa was drafted in 2020.
“When it comes to the Dolphins, the issue has come up only once, and that was driven by fans and some media members, not the prospect himself, and the idea was with Tua Tagovailoa in 2020 when he arrived as a first-round pick after starring at Alabama wearing 13,” Poupart writes.
Yeah, don’t even ask on that one.
Poupart goes on to give some background on how these topics have come up with other teams.
“For those not familiar with the Giants situation, they unretired number 1 last year to give it to first-round pick Malik Nabers after the family of Hall of Famer Ray Flaherty gave its permission, so this year Carter first asked about getting number 56, which was retired in honor of Lawrence Taylor, but the Hall of Fame linebacker said no,” Poupart explains.
“Then Carter asked about getting the 11 retired for Phil Simms, who said he was fine with the idea until he was vetoed by his family.
“In Tennessee, meanwhile, the Titans gave first overall pick the number 1 they had retired in honor of QB Warren Moon, with his blessing. The only difference with that situation is that Moon starred for the organization while it was the Houston Oilers.”
However, the message to rookies should be relatively clear: Just don’t even ask and put a former player in that position.
Micah Warren Micah Warren has been covering the NFL – and sports in general – for more than 20 years and he began writing for Heavy in 2025. Previously, he has written for Off the Record, GCobb.com, Blast Magazine and other sports and non-sports-related outlets. Micah also co-hosts “The Philly Pulse” podcast. More about Micah Warren
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