BroBible
New York Giants rookie Abdul Carter is now 0-for-2 in his attempts to get franchise legends to allow him to wear their legendary retired numbers. Carter, the No. 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, previously asked Lawrence Taylor to wear his iconic No. 56 when he suits up in New York, only to be brutally rejected. Now, fellow franchise legend Phil Simms has also shot down Carter wearing his famed No. 11 despite previously saying he’d happily cede the number to Carter or rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart.
“I told some of my friends and people around me, ‘I’ll let him have it in a second.’ I said ‘Can you just help it a little and make it better?’” Simms initially said when asked if Dart or Carter could wear his number. “I think it would be a lot of fun. It wouldn’t bother me.”
Carter also wore the No. 11 during his time in college at Penn State. But when he did eventually ask Simms for the number, only after the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback’s comments, he didn’t receive the answer you’d expect.
Former New York Giants beat reporter Gary Myers posted on X, stating that Simms told him that he will no longer give up the number to Carter.
“Good news for Giants fans who believe in tradition. Phil Simms’ #11 will not be coming out of retirement for first-round pick Abdul Carter, who wore 11 at Penn State,” Myers wrote. Simms said on a podcast he would be okay with it but he told me tonight his family outvoted him. After hearing that Simms was agreeable, Carter had said it would be an honor to wear 11. LT already turned down Carter’s request to wear 56. Carter needs to create his legacy with his own number.”
On one hand, Simms and Taylor have every right to say “no.” Why retire the numbers at all if you’re just going to turn around and change your mind? But Simms was only ever a two-time Pro Bowler and won’t ever be a Pro Football Hall of Fame member. So maybe New York was a bit over-eager by retiring his number. Several Giants fans in Meyers’ replies seem to think so.
As for Carter, he’s yet again left on the hunt for a number to wear in the NFL.
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