Tyler Shough passed his first challenge with the New Orleans Saints with flying colors, passing on the chain drive-thrus and national brands for a sit-down dinner at Drago’s Seafood Restaurant as his first meal in his new city. But his next test is tough, too. Shough spoke about the decision of choosing a new jersey number with Brad Cesmat for Sports360AZ.
He’s previously used numbers nine (at Louisville) and twelve (at Oregon and Texas Tech), neither of which are available in New Orleans. Chris Olave is No. 12 and Shough is well aware that the No. 9 jersey is spoken for by Drew Brees — and so is No. 8, which has only been worn by Archie Manning. The guy does his research.
When asked which number he’ll wear in New Orleans, Shough replied: “I don’t know yet, hoping for six or eighteen, I think that’s the quarterback numbers they have left. We’ll try and get six, I guess, and we’ll see what happens. But I’m not too big on it. Six is three less than nine, kind of the opposite of (twelve). Eighteen is nine plus nine so it works out in the long run from the Louisville connection. I’m not going to wear Archie or Drew’s number, no way. Those guys are legends.”
Spencer Rattler used the No. 18 jersey last season, but he switched to No. 2 this year, which made it available. But Shough is leaning towards another path by going with No. 6. It was used by Willie Gay Jr. and Marcus Maye in recent years, but for a long time it belonged to fan-favorite punter Thomas Morstead, whose predecessor Tommy Barnhardt also wore No. 9 while punting for the Saints in 113 games (including the playoffs). Nothing is official until roster cuts in September, though, so don’t go ordering yourself a Shough jersey just yet.