Sometimes, you can’t put a price on a number.
When cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was signed by the 49ers in the offseason, he had his heart set on wearing jersey No. 24. Problem was, that number already had an owner — Niners running back Anthony Dixon.
The two were allowed to share the number throughout the preseason, but once rosters were finalized, one of them was forced to switch. Dixon made it clear that it wouldn’t be him, rejecting the veteran defensive back’s $24,000 offer to buy No. 24.
“I worked hard to get that number when I first got here,” Dixon told CSNBayArea.com. “I worked hard to get it off somebody else. I’ve been No. 24 since high school and college.
“I’m not ready to sell it, yet.”
Players paying off teammates for uniform numbers is nothing new in the NFL (Tampa Bay’s Darrelle Revis and New England’s Adrian Wilson parted with $50,000 and a year’s supply of diapers, respectively, for that same No. 24 earlier this offseason). But it is a bit odd that Asomugha is this attached to this particular number.
He’s worn No. 24 for just two of his 10 NFL seasons — during his stint in Philadelphia — and they were two of the more underwhelming campaigns of his career. Asomugha wore No. 21 in Oakland, where he was a four-time All-Pro, and No. 2 while playing college ball at Cal.
Photo via Facebook/San Francisco 49ersÂ
