Marcus Mariota to Wear No. 0 Commanders Jersey; 1st NFL QB to Take Number

Marcus Mariota will make history when he suits up for his first game with the Washington Commanders.

The Commanders announced the jersey numbers for all of their free-agent signings, with Mariota taking the No. 0.

Per Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team, Mariota is the first quarterback to have zero as his jersey number.

The NFL changed the rules for eligible jersey numbers among position groups in April 2021. Quarterback eligibility stayed the same at that point with Nos. 1-19 available.

An update to the rule in March 2023 made the No. 0 available to quarterbacks. No signal-callers took advantage of the change last season.

Other position groups eligible to wear jersey No. 0 include running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, linebackers, cornerbacks, safeties, kickers and punters.

There were a total of 22 players who switched their jersey number to zero last season. A majority of them were on the defensive side of the ball, with only six offensive players choosing to use it.

Players who switched to the new number had various reasons for doing so. Calvin Ridley, who played with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, told ESPN's Michael DiRocco said it reminded him of the letter O.

"My mom called us the COR boys when we were little because all of us have the same initials," Ridley said. "So it's C, O, R, Calvin Orin [Ridley]."

Mariota switching to zero as his number makes sense because he's been using No. 8 for most of his career dating back to his time at Oregon. The only time he switched it up was in 2022 when he wore No. 1 for the Atlanta Falcons.

There's not much differentiation in the design of zero and eight on an NFL jersey. Mariota signed a one-year deal with the Commanders in free agency after spending last season with the Philadelphia Eagles.