Abdul Carter Makes Final Decision on NY Giants Jersey Number

That’s the proclamation made by New York Giants first-round draft pick Abdul Carter, who after unsuccessfully trying to land No. 56 (belonging to Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor ) and No. 11 (belonging to Giants Ring of honor member Phil Simms), Carter will look to build his own NFL legacy in the number he’s worn since setting foot on the Quest Diagnostics Training Center fields for the first time earlier this spring.

Carter, who sought to wear No. 56 in honor of his admiration for Taylor, was encouraged by the Giants legend to choose a number already in circulation and make it his own. 

Carter was disappointed in being denied the number, but he also understood. In a since-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), Carter wrote, “The worst thing he could say was NO!! My stance doesn’t change, LT is the (goal) nothing but respect… This is just going to make me work even harder!! I love it.”

After being denied No. 56, Carter set his sights on No. 11, the number he wore No. 11 at Penn State. 

Initially, Simms seemed willing to grant the rookie’s request.

“I told some of my friends and people around me, I said, ‘Oh, I'd let him have it in a second.’ I said, ‘Can you just help it a little and make it better or whatever?’ I think it would be a lot of fun. That wouldn't bother me,” Simms said in an interview with FanDuel TV earlier this year.

Carter, in another deleted post upon having learned of Simms’s thoughts, responded. “It would be an HONOR.”

Unfortunately for Carter, Simms’s family and close friends talked him out of being so agreeable, and his jersey remains retired, along with that of Taylor's and 11 other numbers currently out of circulation for the team.

In 2024, Giants first-round pick Malik Nabers received the blessings of the family of Ray Flaherty, whose No. 1 jersey number had been retired by the team after the 1935 season. Nabers is going on his second season sporting the single digit.

But Carter seems to have put any disappointment over not being able to wear two numbers that, while dear to his heart, are more dear to the franchise, and will set about a quest for dominance in his first NFL season.  

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