Commanders' Marcus Mariota to become first QB in NFL history to wear No. 0
Move over, Gilbert Arenas: There’s a new Agent Zero in Washington, D.C.
Marcus Mariota will wear No. 0 with the Commanders this season, the team announced Wednesday. With this move, Mariota will become the first quarterback in NFL history to wear No. 0, per NFL Research.
Such a decision was largely impossible until only recently, when the NFL relaxed its jersey numbering rules and opened the possibility for nearly every player on both sides of the ball to wear single digits. In 2023, the league expanded further, permitting players to wear No. 0 for the first time in decades.
More than 20 players chose to don the digit in 2023, including running backs, receivers, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties. After wearing No. 8 from his time at Oregon through Tennessee and Las Vegas, then switching to No. 1 in Atlanta, Mariota, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, didn’t have either option available in Washington, where receiver Jahan Dotson wears No. 1, and running back Brian Robinson sports No. 8. Mariota will instead join the No. 0 club as the first quarterback to do so in 2024.
