It looks like Miami Dolphins No. 1 draft choice Chop Robinson will get to wear his old Penn State jersey number 44 after all.
Long snapper Blake Ferguson, who was the owner of jersey number 44, announced in a video on social media Wednesday that he will relinquish the jersey number to Robinson.
There is no word on whether any consideration flowed between the players. Many times veterans will ask for something in return for the number, but there is no evidence, one way or another, that would prove that Robinson had to pay for it.
“I heard from Chop very early Friday morning as he was making his way to Miami Gardens and he was just expressing to me how important the No. 44 was to him and asked if I’d be willing to consider taking a different number,” Ferguson said in the video. “I found that the jersey number that I wore my last two years in college, and that I was able to win a national championship in, was available. Jersey number 48. So that’s the jersey I’ll be in moving forward. I’m super, super pumped up about it.”
Robinson told reporters after he was drafted that he was going to be looking into who was wearing No. 44.
In addition to the jersey change, Ferguson's account on X went from @blakeferguson44 to @blakeferguson48.
Ferguson, as he did when he transferred from No. 50 to No. 44, is willing to give fans new autographed jerseys with No. 48 if they return the old one to him, care of the Dolphins practice facility.
Among other recent Dolphins first-round picks, Jaylen Waddle (17), Jaelan Phillips (15) and Austin Jackson (73) all are wearing their college number, but Tua Tagovailoa had to switch to 1 from the 13 he wore at Alabama because the Dolphins have retired that number in honor of Dan Marino.
More must-reads: