Phillip Lindsay, a longtime Denver Broncos fan, reached out to Terrell Davis for permission to wear the number 30. Davis obliged.
Phillip Lindsay has already done quite a bit to endear himself to Denver Broncos fans.
As a matter of fact, he came in as one of the top five on our list of top new jerseys to get for the 2018 season. Lindsay’s popularity is really on the rise in Denver, but that’s been the case for a lot longer than just the last six months.
Before Lindsay signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Denver Broncos, he was a Denver high school football star at South High School.
He followed up a stellar high school career with an even better collegiate career, setting Colorado records for all-purpose yards and yards from scrimmage.
He didn’t get invited to the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine, and players who don’t get invited to the Combine have a significantly worse chance of making an NFL roster than the guys who do.
Lindsay has been facing an uphill battle because of his size his entire playing career, but upon his arrival in Denver, he quickly established himself as one of the team’s top offensive playmakers.
How good was Lindsay even in the early months of being with the team? He was practicing with the top offense during OTAs, taking reps with the starters as an undrafted rookie.
Like many undrafted rookies, Lindsay didn’t exactly get the top choice of jersey number when he got to Denver. The NFL doesn’t allow non-quarterbacks or kickers to wear numbers in the single digits into the regular season, but when the teams are at expanded 90-man rosters, it’s allowed.
All Spring and Summer, Lindsay wore the number two.
That jersey number is now a number he will likely hang up in his home somewhere as a reminder of where he started, but Lindsay is getting a major upgrade in the jersey number department.
He’s not the first to wear the number 30 since Denver Broncos Hall of Famer Terrell Davis retired, nor is he the first Broncos running back to wear the number again. But with Lindsay’s backstory and history in the city of Denver and state of Colorado, it’s one of the most meaningful.
Former Broncos safety David Bruton exemplified excellence on and off the field with the number 30 jersey, but the torch is being passed yet again.
Seeing a player get the ball out of the backfield wearing the number 30 in a new, exciting era of Denver Broncos football is just flat out awesome.
Lindsay reached out to Davis himself, and Davis gave his blessing for Lindsay to wear one of the most famous jersey numbers in Broncos history.
It wouldn’t be a shocker if, at some point, the Broncos retired that number, but for now, its legacy lives on through Lindsay, who was so good in OTAs, training camp, and the first three preseason games that the Broncos opted to keep him on the sidelines the entire fourth preseason game.
That type of treatment is typically reserved for starters and star players, not undrafted free agents who started out as the fifth running back on the depth chart.
Lindsay is not a typical undrafted player and should prove very quickly to be worthy of the status that comes with wearing number 30 at the running back position.