Speaking with the media on Thursday, newly signed wide receiver Jordan Matthews revealed his jersey number that has a very familiar and successful recent history with the franchise.
Matthews, who wore 81 in Philadelphia and 87 in Buffalo, selected the newly open 80, but only after requesting permission from its previous holder, Danny Amendola.
“He said I could have it. I have a lot of respect for his game,” Matthews told reporters
“I know what he did here. I don’t think you have to get a number retired and all that stuff to understand you need to have respect for what guys do in a place like this. They call him ‘Danny Playoff,’ and I think he earned that nickname. I just wanted to make sure, ‘Hey, is this cool?’ He said it was.”
According to ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss, Matthews had met Amendola previously at Sam Bradford’s wedding.
Matthews, who wore 87 last year and in college at Vanderbilt University, had the following to say regarding that number.
Jordan Matthews wore No. 87 last year, but didn't want to ask for it: "I think somebody is wearing that. I was like, whoever has that I can probably fight him, but I heard he was big. So, I won’t worry about it."
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) April 12, 2018
It didn’t take long for Matthews to update his Twitter account with the new changes.
Looks like Jordan Matthews will wear Danny Amendola’s old No. 80 for the Patriots. (h/t @ItzPros) pic.twitter.com/l9B1zxl9K1
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) April 12, 2018
Matthews will share a number with previous successful Patriots such as Troy Brown and Irving Fryar in addition to Amendola.
Matthews signed a one-year, $1-million dollar contact that includes just $170,000 in guaranteed money but can earn an additional $700,000 in incentives in 2018.
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