According to TMZ Sports, Indianapolis Colts soon-to-be second-year wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. won’t be switching from his current jersey #11 to appease any request from his new starting quarterback Carson Wentz:
“I am number 11,” Pittman Jr. told TMZ Sports. “. . . I don’t think there’s any deal that is gonna be done.”
“. . . Yeah, so I spoke to [Wentz], and he was just seeing how locked in I was to #11, and I told him I was locked in — and he was like, ‘That’s cool, bro, because I’m probably gonna switch anyway.’”
“He asked me very respectfully, and I just appreciated him for that. I think he’s a great dude, because lots of guys with his status, they would come in and demand and stuff like that.”
Something that was also reiterated by GMFB recently this morning (although via text):
.@Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr on @gmfb @nflnetwork said he exchanged texts w/ Carson Wentz about changing his uniform number 11 and Pittman told him he will stick with wearing number 11.
— Will Selva (@WillSelvaTV) February 22, 2021
Before anyone tries to insinuate that Pittman Jr. was being selfish, no one should see it that way. It’s his team number to begin with, and he had some success with #11 during his rookie season in 2020 with the Colts.
Pittman Jr. caught 40 receptions for 503 receiving yards (12.6 ypr. avg.) and a touchdown reception during 13 games (8 starts) this past season.
It’s a jersey number he’s clearly comfortable with as a young wideout seeking to firmly establish himself at the NFL level. The Colts also have ‘slim pickings’ at available franchise wide receivers’ numbers (especially in the 80’s)—as many preferred jersey numbers are already in service, retired, or unofficially not for issue from both Indianapolis’ and Baltimore’s franchise history.
It also sounds like Wentz may be looking for a change all together and to start fresh with the Colts—meaning he wasn’t completely sold on going with #11 again anyways, which is a jersey number he wore with both the Philadelphia Eagles and at North Dakota State collegiately previously.
It doesn’t sound like this will have any sort of hiccup on their freshly budding relationship, as Pittman Jr. told TMZ Sports that the two players are already making plans to work out and train this offseason to better build a connection—holding Wentz in very high regards:
.@Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr on @gmfb @nflnetwork on new QB Carson Wentz: “I think it’s awesome. We get a guy who’s young. A guy that has a proven guy, so I think he’s good for us.”
— Will Selva (@WillSelvaTV) February 22, 2021
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