Carter Has Finally Found His Number
Since the moment that Abdul Carter got drafted, he’s been doing whatever he can to try and find a jersey number that would fit him perfectly. There have been several notable attempts for him to try and secure a number. It hasn’t been easy, but he has officially picked the number he is going to wear this coming season. Carter has decided that he will be playing as number 51. There are a few reasons why he chose this one.
At first, Carter had asked Lawrence Taylor if he could wear his number, the number 56. Taylor declined and told Carter to pick out a number that he could make his legacy with. Taylor felt that if he gave his number away, it might hurt his legacy that is associated with his number. After the first decline from Taylor, the 21-year-old linebacker then followed up with former Giant Phil Simms about his number 11. Simms was very much open to unretiring his number and letting Carter use it. The number 11 was also the number Carter had been wearing since his college days at Penn State. However, after the proposal, Simms' family declined for Carter to wear this number.
In recent developments during the Giants' mini-camp, Carter had put a lot of thought into wearing the number 51 jersey. It’s not a usual choice for any player, but several former linebackers on other teams wear this number. Some of them were Dick Butkus, Sam Mills, just to name a few and now Carter. Carter has his reasons, but more than just following in the footsteps of others. Carter wants to forge his legacy with the Giants, and he wants to honor the team's history. By combining both Simms' and Taylor's numbers.
Carter plans to make some noise this season with the Giants. He has plans to be his own person and follow through on everything that he wants to do. Carter is looking forward to the new season and knows what the Giants need him to do. This young linebacker is ready to build a legacy. That said, he may be the guy who makes the biggest difference on the defensive line this season and be the missing piece that the New York Giants have been looking for.
