Let’s talk about NFL jerseys. Most people buy them to rep their favorite player/team, and some people buy a lot more than others. If you’ve been a fan of a team for more than a few years, you’ve probably got a collection. Some hold special meaning. Whether its the player’s name on the back, the event/moment you were wearing it, or something else that makes that one special.
I’ve been a Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders fan for over 35 years, and I have a small collection of jerseys. I’ve had them given to me, bought them from the secondary market, won them in raffles, and just bought them from sites like Fanatics. One of the first jerseys I ever owned was a Chris Cooley jersey that I wore everywhere, and it still smells like smoke from my favorite bar/former basement. I bought my Sean Taylor jersey the same year. That one always hits different when wearing it. His murder was a gut punch for me, and the rest of the fan base. Even though a lot of people have them, you always acknowledge someone who’s wearing one. I wore mine to the NFL draft in Philly, and even those animals respected the man/jersey.
There are also the oddball jerseys in the collection that stand out for one reason or another. I was given a knockoff jersey by a coworker over 20 years ago. He had a side hustle driving to New York every weekend and buying whatever knockoff he could from street vendors, and then selling them back home in Pennsylvania. Frank gave me a jersey that he “couldn’t sell”. It was a #56 jersey with Fred Smoot’s name on the back. That was Lavar Arrington’s number at the time, and the Smootington jersey was born! I wore that gem to any pickup football game I played in, and its still one of my favorites.
Another favorite is an Alfred Morris jersey I ordered from an overseas shop. Its a deep burgundy that stands out from every other burgundy jersey I own. My fiancée said the other jerseys look maroon next to it. I cracked a Jim Zorn joke, and one of us laughed(not her). Morris was one of my favorite players when I started commenting/writing for Hogs Haven, and I still miss seeing that touchdown swing in the end zone.
I own several signed jerseys that I’ve collected over the years. There’s the Ryan Kerrigan that I won from the Virginia lottery because I watched Real Genius and learned how to game the system(or just lucky, hello Super Bowl tickets). I have a signed Jonathan Allen that I won in a charity raffle. Then there’s the signed Robert Griffin III that I’m 99% sure is fake, but its still real to me.
I had to buy a jersey for Washington’s MVP Tress Way. It was free through a credit from Fanatics, it’s the Washington Football Team, and it’s his original number with the Redskins, #5. I wore it for every playoff game at the end of Washington’s 2024 run to the NFC Championship Game, and it almost worked!
What’s your favorite jersey? Do you have any oddball, custom, weird jerseys in your collection? Which jersey do you need to have in your collection?