Back in 2011, former Oakland Raiders head coach Hue Jackson told quarterback Terrelle Pryor was couldn’t wear No. 2. Although Pryor wanted to continue wearing the number he wore while at Ohio State, the backup was forced to chose another which turned out to be No. 6.
With Jackson now the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, Pryor no longer has the number restriction from current head coach Dennis Allen.
That being said, Pryor has chosen to make a bold move by becoming the third quarterback to wear No. 2 in Oakland according to Steve Corkan of the Contra Costa Times via Twitter:
Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor now is wearing No. 2. No, I am not kidding,
— Steve Corkran (@CorkOnTheNFL) August 21, 2013
Interesting choice for Pryor considering the history of the jersey number with the last two players to wear the number being forgettable to say the least.
In 2006, Aaron Brooks wore No. 2 while playing in only eight games for the Raiders. Brooks showed promise while with the New Orleans Saints, but simply couldn’t get anything going with the Raiders and as a result played in only one season in Oakland before moving on.
A year later, arguably the worst quarterback in the team’s history was drafted with the number one overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. JaMarcus Russell was taken with the top pick by the Raiders and was expected to turn around the franchise.
Unfortunately, Russell didn’t pan out and is widely considered to be one of the biggest draft busts of all-time along with the likes of Ryan Leaf formerly of the division rival San Diego Chargers.
Heading into the third preseason game for the Raiders, Pryor remains the backup quarterback behind Matt Flynn and ahead of rookies Matt McGloin and Tyler Wilson on the depth chart. Although Flynn appears to have a tight grip on the starting job, Pryor may emerge and the number one option during the regular season.