Tracy Porter wore jersey No. 22 with the New Orleans Saints for the first four years of his career and again with the Denver Broncos last year. However, he decided he wanted to wear No. 24 when he signed with the Oakland Raiders earlier this offseason. Now that Oakland has brought back Charles Woodson, that plan has been spoiled.
Woodson wore No. 24 with the Raiders from 1998-2005. When the 36-year-old veteran returned to the city where he began his career, the team apparently decided he could have his old number back — even though Porter had already claimed it. Porter did not seem pleased.
Well you Raiders fans…your guy has 24. It was TAKEN from me and given to him. #congrats…..too funny how this biz "works"
— ♌Tracy Porter♌ (@TracyPorter) July 24, 2013
Not mad at all…it's just the principle and the way it was handled…..said my piece, now back to football.
— ♌Tracy Porter♌ (@TracyPorter) July 24, 2013
Porter can say he wasn’t mad, but the first tweet makes it pretty obvious that he was. Typically players work out some sort of deal when they want a certain jersey number that a teammate is already wearing. We have heard of veterans exchanging diapers for a jersey number or paying for it outright, but it’s usually up to the player who claimed the number first to decide if they want to give it up.
Back in May, Woodson said he was still negotiating with Porter to try to get the number. If the number was indeed straight up taken from Porter and given to Woodson, I can understand why he’s upset. That’s usually not the way it’s handled.
H/T Shutdown Corner
