There will be another Dallas Cowboys player in the #9 jersey in the post-Tony Romo world after all … linebacker Jaylon Smith has just acquired the number — and fans are PISSED.
The Cowboys hadn’t let anyone use the digit since Romo retired after the 2016 season … but Smith was just assigned it this week, and the outrage has been palpable.
While Dallas has NEVER officially retired a jersey number, Troy Aikman‘s #8, Emmitt Smith‘s #22 and Roger Staubach‘s #12 haven’t been given out since their retirements … and many thought Romo would get the same treatment.
But, the Cowboys let the #9 go on Tuesday … and with Smith being one of the biggest disappointments for Dallas in the 2020 season, it hasn’t exactly been a welcome sight in Big D.
Fans have blasted Jaylon and the team on social media for making the change … but the 25-year-old sure seems happy as hell to have the number regardless.
It’s meant a lot to him — he wore it in high school and in college at Notre Dame — and with the NFL adopting new jersey number rules this season … he jumped at the chance to take Tony’s old uni.
It’s unclear how Romo — who went 78-49 in his 13-year career with the Cowboys — feels about the whole situation … but it all might not even matter come September.
The Cowboys took two off-ball linebackers in last month’s draft — including 1st-rounder Micah Parsons — and some believe it could lead to a Smith trade or even a Smith cut before the season begins.
If he makes the roster, though … how weird will it be to see that number not on Romo AND on the defensive side of the ball in 2021???