The New York Giants are taking a bold step for rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers.
The Giants confirmed Wednesday that Nabers will wear No. 1 for the team this season. That number has been retired since 1935 in honor of Hall of Fame defensive end Ray Flaherty, but Nabers and the Giants received permission from Flaherty’s family to wear the number.
“After thinking about it a little bit, my feeling was we would allow that only if the Flaherty family was OK with it,” Giants co-owner John Mara told Steve Serby of the New York Post. “I think it’s very gracious on their part, and Malik understands that that comes with a certain responsibility and how he needs to conduct himself and represent the organization and the Flaherty family. He’s been great about it, he immediately called them to thank them.”
Nabers wore No. 8 at LSU, but quarterback Daniel Jones wears that number for the Giants. He wore No. 9 during training camp but was interested in switching to a different number, with No. 1 of particular interest to him. The Giants then facilitated the arrangement with Flaherty’s son, Ray Flaherty Jr., who gave his approval.
“We kinda took a vote originally, and we didn’t know much about Malik,” Flaherty Jr. told the Post. “There might be somebody alive when my dad played from that time area but they were so small that they wouldn’t remember. John Mara made a pretty good point that it was kind of a good way to get his name out again.”
The Giants retired Flaherty’s number in 1935, making it the first number to be retired by a professional football team. The plan is to have the number go back into retirement once Nabers’ Giants career ends, though the team will be hoping the No. 6 overall pick performs well enough to stick around for years to come.
Though Nabers has never worn No. 1 at any level, it is increasingly popular at the NFL level among star players like Jalen Hurts and Ja’Marr Chase. Nabers has already drawn some comparisons to Chase, so it is possible that was part of his motivation.
