With Davante Adams in town, Puka Nacua will be throwing it back to his college days.
Nacua, who has worn the jersey number 17 since being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams back in 2023, will be switching to No. 12, the team announced on Tuesday.
No. 12 is a special number for Nacua and his family. He wore it from his little league days on through his college career with BYU, as he said in an article on the team's website. His three siblings, Chanel, Kai and Samson—a wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints—also donned No. 12 in their own sporting endeavors.
"The opportunity to put on the one-two meant a lot to me," Nacua said.
Meanwhile, Nacua will presumably be ceding jersey No. 17 to Adams, who has worn it throughout his decorated NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets.
But No. 17 also meant a great deal to Nacua, who said he took pride in wearing the number and duplicating the standard set by former Rams wideout Robert Woods, who wore it for several seasons in Los Angeles before switching to No. 2.
As such, Nacua wasn't so keen to give up No. 17.
Nacua, during an appearance on an episode of The St. Brown Podcast that aired Tuesday, told Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous St. Brown that he wouldn't give up No. 17 to Adams, not even for $2 million.
"I don't think I'd do for $2 mil," Nacua said when asked point-blank if he would make such a transaction with Adams. Nacua, after questioning if $2 million was a lot of money for a jersey number switch, seemed to change his tune a bit after some gentle pressing from the St. Brown brothers, saying that he could "buy a whole lot of land in Utah" with that amount of money.
During a Monday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Nacua said he hoped he'd be a "good negotiator" with Adams.
Judging by the switch, it appears he was.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Puka Nacua, Rams Announce New Jersey Number After He Quoted Davante Adams Huge Price.
