You can't tell a player without a program...or maybe even with one at AuburnPublished: Wednesday, September 08, 2010, 12:14 PMCharles Goldberg -- The Birmingham News Charles Goldberg -- The Birmingham NewsSomebody called the Tiger Talk radio call-in show wanting to know what so many players wear the same numbers.The quick answer: Recruiting.Auburn has 23 cases of duplicate numbers on this season's roster, including 11 instances in which players on scholarship are wearing the same number."It is kind of a trend,'' coach Gene Chizik said. "It's really important to these guys when they come out of high school. Part of the recruiting is `Hey, can I have No. 8? Can I have No. 10? Or 12?'"You can't say no. You try to hold true to your word, and they're really good about it. They understand if they can't get it, or they have to wait a year or two. In a lot of cases we feel it isn't an issue because there's no special teams crossover where it's going to be an issue."Hey, if it makes them play better, let them wear it."Players can wear the same number -- as long as they're not on the field at the same time.Notable Auburn duplicate numbers2 Cam Newton2 Aairon Savage3 DeAngelo Benton3 Chris Davis4 Zac Etheridge4 Shaun Kitchens5 Mike Dyer5 Jake Holland6 Antonio Goodwin6 Jonathon Mincy9 Quindarius Carr9 Ryan White14 Demond Washington14 Barrett Trotter15 Neiko Thorpe15 Clint Moseley17 Josh Bynes17 Ryan Shoemaker18 Kodi Burns18 Wes Byrum36 Cody Parkey36 Wade Christopher
I will admit that I got freaked at one point when I saw #2 make a tackle... on defense...
No one ever made that mistake with number 17