Steelers rookie WR hopes to 'change' team's longtime rule
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Roman Wilson.
The Steelers have an impressive history of drafting wide receivers outside of the first round. That’s exactly what they did once again in the 2024 NFL Draft, selecting Michigan’s Roman Wilson in the third round (No. 84).
Only time will tell if Wilson turns out to be Pittsburgh’s next great wide receiver, but he already has his eyes set on changing the franchise’s longtime rule of not allowing players to wear the No. 1.
“I feel like, for me, the number 1 is a special number. I would love to wear it, but it would mean more to me if I got the opportunity to earn it,” Wilson said on the “Steel Here” podcast. “Maybe one day they’ll change it.”
Wilson wore No. 1 for most of his collegiate career. He also wore No. 14, but that number is currently worn by fellow wide receiver George Pickens.
Like Wilson, Pickens also wore No. 1 during his collegiate career at Georgia, but he revealed he tried and failed to secure it when he was drafted.
“I tried to get the number one but I think it’s sacred or something like that,” Pickens said on “The Arthur Moats Experience With Deke” podcast.
That’s the exact reason why Wilson didn’t even ask the Steelers to wear the No. 1.
“I didn’t even ask because I knew if [George] Pickens wasn’t getting 1, then I wasn’t,” Wilson added.
Many believe Pittsburgh has unofficially retired the No. 1 to honor the legacy of former kicker Gary Anderson, a member of the Steelers All-Time Team. Others think the organization simply avoids handing it out due to individualistic motives.
Whichever you choose to believe, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to don it again.
The team has since announced that Wilson will wear No. 10. Still, that doesn’t mean Wilson is giving up on his desire to wear No. 1 again.
The Michigan product will likely have an opportunity right away to prove he deserves to wear it as he joins a wide receiver room that is quite thin outside of him and Pickens.
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