When the Tennessee Titans take the field to kick off the 2024 regular season, things will look much different than they did in 2023.
There will be a new head coach walking the sidelines in Brian Callahan. There will be a Titans roster that has undergone a lot of turnover. There might also be an unfamiliar jersey number in the backfield…And not just because Derrick Henry may not be wearing the two-tone blue.
Titans running back Tyjae Spears, who sported jersey number 32 for his rookie season, told me in a recent interview that he’s considering changing his jersey number for the 2024 season.
During an interview with Spears earlier this week for "Titans at 2" with A to Z Sports representing Panini America at the Super Bowl, I asked the Titans’ young running back about the possibility of switching his number to 22 if it’s available this season.
After all, 22 is Spears' favorite number. It's the number he wore in high school and in college at Tulane. His father’s birthday is February 22nd.
When Spears was first drafted by the Titans, he joked with the media about wanting to get the number from Henry. “I was playing with somebody over there. I was like 'maybe he will let me get it,' but they was like 'naw, that ain’t going to happen.' Hopefully he will want to go back to number 2 like he had at Alabama," Spears said over Zoom with Titans media shortly after being drafted.
Obviously, that was never going to happen. No. 22 Henry jerseys are far too iconic and far too popular in Nashville to have King Henry wearing anything different. But if Henry doesn’t return to Tennessee, would Spears want to make the change?
"Man, that's my favorite number. I want to so bad, I can't do it though," Spears told me. "Just out of respect for Derrick (Henry). I know all the things that he did. He made that number what it is in Tennessee. I'll have to wait a few years before I get in it."
But just because Spears won’t be going back to his college number doesn’t mean he’s going to run it back with 32 next season. “I might change it though, I'm a big fan of 22, I'm going to go to a single-digit," Spears told me. "I don't what it is. I might change it. Like you said, I'm not going to make predictions for the future, but in my best interest, I want to change it"..."I need a fast number man, yeah. Then I'm gonna run faster when I get a fast number."
Tyjae Spears moving to a single-digit jersey number? That's an aesthetic I can get behind. While Spears said he wasn't sure what exact number he'd pick, if we are assuming he won’t be taking a number currently held by a player on the Titans’ roster, what are his options?
For starters, numbers 1 (Warren Moon) and 9 (Steve McNair) are retired. Will Levis is in 8, so that’s out. Malik Willis has 7, Nick Folk has 6, Ryan Stonehouse has 4, and Caleb Farley has 3.
That leaves #5, which Kearis Jackson had last season, #2, which Azeez Al-Shaair had last season, and #0, which Sean Murphy-Bunting had last season. Those all feel like realistic possibilities for Spears.
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