Shedeur Sanders jersey number choice avoids Browns worst draft picks ever in favor of fresh start

Shedeur Sanders won't wear No. 2 in Cleveland.

It's the jersey number he had at Jackson State and Colorado, but he's now chosen No. 12. That's a good call.

The Browns have a brutal history with the No. 2 on the back of uniforms.

Consider that the first player Cleveland ever selected after the franchise was revived was No. 1 overall pick Tim Couch in 1999. That didn't work out great.

Then there was Johnny Manziel, a major draft bust, who rocked the number from 2014 to 2015.

The rest of the list is just meh:

• Jerry Kauric (1990)
• Reggie Hodges (2009-2012)
• Patrick Murray (2016)
• Zane Gonzalez (2018)
• Cody Parkey (2020)
• Dustin Colquitt (2021)
• Amari Cooper (2022-2024)
• Bailey Zappe (2024)

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The three best players to wear No. 12 for the Browns? Don Cockroft, Vinny Testaverde and Josh Gordon. While there's some disappointment on the No. 12 list, it's nothing like Couch and Manziel.

Sanders has a chance to write his own legacy in that number, one most famously worn at QB by Tom Brady.

It'll instantly become one of the most popular jerseys on the Browns. Cleveland will be hoping he can make it into one of the league's most successful uniforms, too.

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