Why Gators Wear Numbers They Wear in Their Own Words (Part II)

In Donovan Stiner's world, his jersey number leads him back to his older brother Jaylon. (Photo: Evan Lepak/UAA Communications)

Why Gators Wear Numbers They Wear in Their Own Words (Part II)

Saturday, August 10, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Some players arrive on campus and the number they want happens to be available. They are the lucky ones.

Others get here and their favorite number is already taken. Those players usually get assigned a jersey number or get to select from whatever is available at their position.

Regardless, every number has a story – or something like that.

With the Gators heading into their final week of preseason camp and then game week for their Aug. 24 opener against Miami, we're catching up with as many players as possible during camp to see why they wear the number they wear.

If you missed the first installment, you can read it here.

Meanwhile, here is the second group of players and the stories behind their numbers (edited for clarity, some deeper than others) in the players' own words:

No. 7 Jeremiah Moon, linebacker (changed from 50 after freshman season)
"Seven is the number of perfection [according to biblical scholars]. I think that's why I changed the number from 50 to 7. I was 50 when I got here. I wore 50 in high school, but I didn't choose it."

No. 55, Kyree Campbell, defensive tackle
"It's my mom's birthday, May 5. I wore 13 in high school and then I went to 55 because my coach needed me to play O-line as well. My mom doesn't want me to change it, so I stayed with it."

No. 56 Tedarrell Slaton, defensive tackle
"I wear the number I wear because that's what they gave me. I know it's been worn by some great players here, so I take pride in it. I got the number tattooed on my arm and I wear it with pride. That's why I never changed it. I wore 77 in high school. I grew up on, 'you make the number, the number doesn't make you.' That's why I stuck with it."

No. 67 Christopher Bleich, offensive lineman
"For me, I just got here and that's the number I got. I didn't know how I felt about it, but then I got to thinking and realized that my best buddy from high school, he used to wear that when he went to go play college, but now he can't play the game no more. It stuck with me and now I just kind of wear it for him. I wore 77 in high school because of my brother Walt."

No. 88 Adam Shuler, defensive tackle (changed from No. 95 this season)
"It's where it all started. I had to take it back to my roots. That's what I started in playing college and that's what I wore in high school. I felt like my last year, I should go out the way I started it. I was a tight end when it started. I just stuck with it and didn't want to change my number. I wore it at West Virginia, then when I came here I changed it and I wanted to go back."

68013 — Adam Shuler is back in his familiar No. 88 that he wore when he started his college career. (Photo: Courtesy of West Virginia athletics)

No. 72 Stone Forsythe, offensive lineman
"When I was in high school and little league I wore 73. But when I came here, Martez Ivey had it and they said I could pick 76 or 72. I went with 72. I wore 73 ever since fourth grade so 72 is pretty close."

No. 98 Luke Ancrum, defensive tackle
"It was given to me my freshman year and I didn't have a chance to change it. My senior year in high school I had to wear No. 75 because I switched positions. Before that, I had 8. Ninety-eight has the most meaning. It's the one I have now."

No. 13, Donovan Stiner, safety
"I wore 3 in high school but I couldn't get it here. I felt like 13 was the closest thing to it so I was happy with it. And my brother's birthday is Jan. 3, so I look at it as 1-3, so it's for my brother Jaylon."