Did Tua Tagovailoa Pick The Best Jersey Number In Sports? Early Signs Point To Yes

The Coronavirus Crisis and Sports for May 11, 2020 touches on Tua Tagovailoa's early jersey sales, The Last Dance and the gambling industry

Did former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa pick the best jersey number in sports?

Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated believes he did, and makes a compelling case as to why. 

He says No. 1 has long been ignored as the best number for quarterbacks, but that's about to change. 

According to Pro Football Reference’s uniform tracker, 110 players have worn the No. 1 in NFL history, yet only 18 of them have been quarterbacks.

Among the best known include Michael Vick, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon and Jeff George. His son Jayden is a sophomore quarterback with the Crimson Tide (and wears No. 16). 

No. 1 has largely been an untapped number at Alabama as well. 

Probably the best player to wear it was wide receiver Al Bell ( 1985-86), who caught 63 passes for 963 yards (15.3 average) with 11 touchdowns, plus 150 rushing yards on 11 carries and another touchdown. He played in five games over two seasons in the NFL, with the Cleveland Browns (1987) and Green Bay Packers (1988).

Wide receiver Robert Foster wore the number from 2014-17, and made 35 career catches for 389 yards and three touchdowns. After signing as a free agent he's played last two seasons with the Buffalo Bills, making 30 receptions for 605 yards and three touchdowns, most of which he accumulated during the 2018 season. 

Ironically, many of the players who have worn No. 1 for Alabama during the Nick Saban era end up up transferring, including Dee Hart, Alvin Kamara and B.J. Scott. 

Linebacker Ben Davis currently wears No. 1 for the Crimson Tide defense, while wide receiver Tyrell Shavers has switched to it on offense. 

Davis has four career tackles, including one for a loss, and a pass defended in 14 games played. Shavers has one career reception for 20 yards and one rush for 14 yards, plus he recovered a blocked punt for a score.

Getting back to Tagovailoa, he announced his jersey number on social media last Tuesday nigh. He already has the two hottest selling jerseys on NFLShop.com, his home and away colors with the Miami Dolphins. 

He's even topping Tom Brady on the list of NFL's most sold jerseys:

1. Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins aqua)

2. Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins white)

3. Tom Brady (Buccaneers pewter alternative vapor)

4. Tom Brady (Buccaneers white vapor)

5. Tom Brady (Buccaneers red)

6. Tom Brady (Buccaneers red vapor)

7. Rob Gronkowski (Buccaneers pewter alternate)

8. Joe Burrow (Bengals black)

9. Rob Gronkowski (Buccaneers red)

10. Tom Brady (Buccaneers pewter alternate) 

Jerry Jeudy's orange jersey with the Broncos is at No. 15. Henry Ruggs III's black Raiders jersey is at No. 22. Incidentally, Jalen Hurts' green jersey with the Eagles is listed at No. 27. 

For the Audience of 1🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/kZYXaYVD1R

— Tua. T 🇦🇸 (@Tua) May 6, 2020

Gambling 

Prior to coronavirus, the gambling industry was preparing for a banner year as various states had begun the process of legalizing sports betting. 

Sports Illustrated senior writer Greg Bishop returned to the Coronavirus + Sports podcast to discuss what gamblers are doing in the short term to get their fix, how Vegas may actually stand to benefit when sports returns, and how sports gambling could be a solution for states looking to rebound financially after the pandemic.

Listen/subscribe:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1503391421
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5BWP4CkzC9cknBvc8MFSFj
RSS: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/siplussports

Basketball 

The fallout from 'The Last Dance' continues. 

Michael Jordan nearly broke down to tears discussing his competitive drive and why he was so tough on his teammates in the latest episode(s).

It was a rare show of emotion from Jordan as he reflected on his harsh leadership style.

SI's Robin Lundberg shares thoughts on Jordan's drive and why even though it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, it ended with positive results.

Did you notice?

• What will Clemson do about the NCAA's new NIL guidelines? Dabo Swinney has never liked the idea of "paying players," going so far as to say in the past that if the NCAA passed a resolution that authorized it he would find another line of work.

• Zion Williamson has been asked to admit he received impermissible benefits to go to Duke, and the Blue Devils should be worried.

• Here’s how MLB reportedly plans to play its 2020 season.

The lighter side

• The governor of Florida said that attending a Marlins game is already a socially distanced experience. 

• A 1910 Shoeless Joe Jackson card sold at auction for nearly a half-million dollars. 

• Talk about turning a negative into a positive ... 

So @espn has just leaked my number to truly the entire world lol in honor of this...shall we call it...massive screw up...I’m doing a giveaway! I’ll be giving away a pair of signed cleats and an autographed baseball over the next 48 hours. Rules are in my voicemail! Good luck! pic.twitter.com/luEqvwGtxW

— Trevor Bauer (トレバー・バウアー) (@BauerOutage) May 10, 2020

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