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Why No. 23 for Jonathan Taylor? It was the number of his favorite childhood RB
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Sometimes a jersey number has more meaning than you might expect. There might be something a little more personal behind the number a player wears on his jersey.
That’s the case for Wisconsin running back Jonathan Taylor. The No. 23 we wears on his back is there for a reason.
Growing up, Taylor was a huge fan of Tennessee Volunteers and Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, who was one of the top backs in the NFL at one time. Of course, Foster sported the No. 23 while trampling NFL defenses on a weekly basis.
Taylor joined the Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday, and said he wore the No. 23 because Foster was his favorite running back growing up. He also said that Melvin Gordon III was his favorite Wisconsin ball carrier.
Jonathan Taylor says he wears #23 for @ArianFoster, who was his favorite #NFL running back growing up.
Former Badger @Melvingordon25 was Taylor's college guy.
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) October 16, 2019
Foster was undrafted in 2009, but went on to have an eight-year NFL career, spending seven seasons with the Texans and one with the Miami Dolphins. In his career, Foster rushed for 6,527 yards and 54 touchdowns. He also caught 255 passes for 2,346 and 14 touchdowns.
Taylor has been outstanding for Wisconsin through his first two-and-a-half seasons for the Badgers, sitting just four yards short of 5,000 for his career. This season, Taylor has rushed for 825 yards and 14 touchdowns. He’s also caught four touchdown passes.
He’s certainly representing that No. 23 well during his Wisconsin career.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB