Steelers player switches number after Aaron Rodgers signing

Pittsburgh Steelers punter Corliss Waitman will no longer wear No. 8. Following the signing of Aaron Rodgers, Waitman is switching to No. 3, which was last worn by Russell Wilson last year.

Rodgers will wear the No. 8. That is the number he wore with theNew York Jets during his two seasons there. Rodgers first wore the number during his time at California in college.

Kenny Pickett was one of the quarterbacks who wore No. 8 with the Steelers before the team traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Rodgers could not wear No. 12 because the Steelers had unofficially retired that number. With the Steelers, No. 12 was worn by quarterback Terry Bradshaw in the 1970s, and while not officially retired, the team has never handed out the number since Bradshaw retired. It is unlikely they ever will, and there are plenty of other numbers that the Steelers will never hand out again, like No. 43 with Troy Polamalu.

This was not a matter of Rodgers asking Bradshaw, though if he had, he would likely have been met with stiff resistance. Bradshaw was critical of the team’s pursuit of Rodgers last week.

“That’s a joke,” Bradshaw said on 103.7 The Buzz’s Morning Mayhem Show. “That is to me just a joke. What are you going to do? Bring him in for one year? Are you kidding me? That guy needs to stay in California. Go somewhere and chew on bark. Whisper to the gods out there.”

Rodgers is now slated to be the Steelers’ starting quarterback, and his No. 8 jerseys are on sale in limited stock on the team’s store.