Giants rookie wide receiver Jalin Hyatt will sport a different look in Week One than he had in the preseason.
Hyatt wore No. 84 during the exhibition season, but the third-round pick is going to be wearing a new number against the Cowboys on the first Sunday night of the season. Hyatt will don No. 13 because wideout David Sills, who was wearing it, didn’t make the cut to the 53-man roster.
Sills wore the number last year as well and Dante Pettis wore it before him, but the most prominent wideout to wear No. 13 with the Giants is Odell Beckham Jr. Hyatt met the current Raven this offseason and said he is a fan, but that his choice of number isn’t directly related to the wideout.
“I was surprised he knew who I was,” Hyatt said, via the team’s website. “It shows a lot of love that he has for the Giants. A lot of respect for him. What he did here – had a great career with the Giants and kind of took over. I was a fan when I was young watching him. High school, college, and now being here, but just with the jersey number, it’s just one of those things I wanted to start my own legacy. I like low numbers, and if I had to choose a number it’d be 11, but it’s retired here, so can’t go with that one, so 13 would be the next option.”
Hyatt wore No. 11 at Tennessee, but the Giants retired that number in honor of Phil Simms. Expecting that kind of career for Hyatt would be asking a lot, but the Giants will be hoping that their latest No. 13 makes some highlight reel plays on offense as a rookie.
