Abdul Carter can’t take his eye off the New York Giants’ retired jerseys.
Carter was selected No. 3 overall by the Giants in last week’s NFL draft. He immediately expressed interest in wearing jersey No. 56, which is what Lawrence Taylor wore. The problem is the jersey number was retired by the Giants. Taylor, who is arguably the greatest defensive player in NFL history, would not grant Carter permission to wear the jersey.
After being denied 56, Carter has interest in wearing No. 11, which is the same number he wore in college at Penn State. The problem there is No. 11 was also retired by the Giants — in honor of Phil Simms, who won two Super Bowls with the team. Simms sounds open to letting Carter wear the number.
“I told some of my friends and people around me, I said, ‘I’ll let him have it in a second.’ I said ‘can you just help it a little and make it better?’ I think it would be a lot of fun. It wouldn’t bother me,” Simms said during an interview with FanDuel’s Cousin Sal that was published on Friday.
Simms added that his agent wouldn’t be happy with him for saying that.
If Abdul Carter or Jaxson Dart request it…
— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) May 2, 2025
Will the Giants #11 jersey stay retired? 🤔@TheCousinSal @PhilSimmsQB | #NYGiants pic.twitter.com/CZzbl3k6Ef
Carter responded on X, saying “It would be an HONOR” to wear Simms’ retired number.
It would be an HONOR🤘🏾@PhilsimmsQB https://t.co/kJTXkmgaw6
— Abdul Carter (@1NCRDB1) May 2, 2025
You might ask what the point is of retiring a number if you’re just going to let someone else go wear it. That’s a good question, though players sometimes give the blessing for another one to wear their number.
Though Giants fans may see someone wearing No. 11 again for their team, No. 56 remains safe.
