Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Chris Godwin’s old jersey number is available again, and he talked about changing it back now that Tom Brady is gone.
Among the many moving pieces that were involved with Tom Brady coming to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2020, the decision about what jersey number he’d wear was an easy one to make.
Chris Godwin had worn No. 12 since his rookie season, but once Brady came to town it was pretty clear that the future Hall of Famer would probably want to wear the number instead. Godwin was more than happy to give up his jersey number, donating No. 12 to Brady and switching to No. 14.
Usually, these things involve players giving up something to get the right to wear another player’s number, but Godwin saw the long game. While Brady’s decision to play for the Bucs didn’t hinge on whether or not Godwin gave up No. 12, he essentially traded a Super Bowl ring in exchange for the swap.
Worth it.
Just like when Brady arrived, the topic of Godwin’s jersey number has quietly come up this offseason. There are bigger fish for the Bucs to fry, but with Brady now retired there’s nobody wearing Godwin’s old number and he can switch back if he wants to.
Chris Godwin reveals if he’s changing his number back after Tom Brady retired
Godwin spoke with Luke Easterling in a really great interview you should check out from top to bottom. Within their conversation, he addressed potentially changing his number.
In short, Godwin really doesn’t care enough to jump back to No. 12, and is going to stick with the number he’s been wearing the last three seasons.
"“I wish that I could go back, man,” Godwin says of his jersey number dilemma. “But I think I’m stuck with 14. I think that’s gonna be me from now on. 12 has meant a lot to me, but I feel like it would be kinda weird going back right now. We’ll see. I won’t completely close the door, but odds are it’s probably 14.”"
To be fair, it would be weird to see Godwin switch back at this point and it has nothing to do with Brady. We’ve gotten so used to seeing Godwin tear things up on Sunday wearing No. 14 that it would be strange to see him anything else.
There has been minor talk about whether Brady’s No. 12 will be retired by the Bucs — which is a bit much. While he helped win a Super Bowl and brought some truly magical years to Tampa Bay, retiring Brady after only three years is pretty aggressive Doug Williams erasure that shouldn’t sit right with fans.
In terms of this jersey debate though, it sounds like Godwin has settled things.