What's in a number?

Since Cam Newton was drafted there has been hesitation from some Panthers fans in going out and purchasing a #1 jersey. The rationale behind this is a belief that sooner or later a switch to Newton's long time #2 was inevitable. As it stands Jimmy Clausen still wears the #2, but that was because he wasn't able to get #7 from Jason Baker.

Whether or not there is a major overhaul of the jersey with the introduction of the Panthers' new logo remains to be seen, but we sill at least see a new jersey with the new Panthers' logo. This has led to some speculation that now is the time for Newton to make the switch, as it would surely be less to buyout the older Reebok stock with the new Nike jerseys coming in.

This isn't the case, according to a Yahoo.com report on Adrian Peterson who is looking to change his number this season from 28 to 23. We all know AP isn't always making smart remarks to the media, but in this case we can see the numbers.

It would cost Peterson a cool $1 million to change numbers, and he is the 22nd top selling jersey in the NFL. This is important because when a player changes his number he needs to buy the backstock still out there, and naturally there are more produced for the top selling guys. As it stands Cam's jersey was 16th as of early October, and there are some reports he is in the top 10 now. This would potentially mean that the cost for Newton to change numbers could be upwards of $3 million. Sure, he probably has the dough from Under Armor, GMC and now Gatorade, but would he really want to, especially for the cost?

In other words, I wouldn't be too afraid of buying that #1 jersey, and it will probably work out for a long time.