Von Miller has worn only 58 and 40 in his 13 NFL seasons with three teams. He will wear No. 24 in his first season with the Commanders.
Miller’s preferred numbers were taken in Washington, with second-year linebacker Jordan Magee wearing 58 and second-year safety Tyler Owens 40. So, Miller picked a number to honor Hall of Fame defensive back Champ Bailey, Miller’s former teammate in Denver, and Kobe Bryant.
Miller wore 40 while he was at Texas A&M, but in one game against Arkansas after Corey Borner was paralyzed while making a tackle during practice at DeSoto (Texas) High School, Miller wore Borner’s No. 24. Miller is from DeSoto.
“When I came here, 58 and 40 were gone, and those were the only two numbers that I had. Oh, I wore 5. That was my very first number, but obviously 5 is already taken, too,” Miller said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “Respect Champ Bailey a lot. Played with Champ Bailey for three years. One of my big brothers, and he played here, and he wore 24. So, it was kind of like it spoke to me in so many different ways, so I decided to go with 24.”
