Everson Walls: Claiborne Wearing No. 24 “An Honor”

It was announced last week that Morris Claiborne would wear no. 24 as a member of the Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys don’t retire jersey numbers, so it’s become a sort of tradition to give numbers worn by legendary past players to highly regarded rookies. Two years ago, it was Dez Bryant breaking out the no. 88 jersey worn by Drew Pearson and Michael Irvin. This year, it’s Morris Claiborne receiving the no. 24 jersey worn by Super Bowl XXX MVP Larry Brown and, even more memorably, Everson Walls.

For his part, Walls was pleased, even honored to hear that Claiborne would be wearing his old number.

"It was pretty cool," Walls said, per ESPN Dallas. "I'm from Dallas and we don't have any official retired numbers. It's an unspoken rule nobody will wear Roger [Staubach]’s number (No. 12). ...

"The expectations are extremely high for him. I thought it was an honor they thought about me in that way. I was never upset at all, I saw [Claiborne's] accomplishments and they're exceptional. They're expecting him to keep it up. He's a player who can make plays on the ball and when I saw they brought out my jersey, I said it's cool."

Stay on top of the latest Dallas Cowboys news with NBCDFW.com. Follow NBC DFW on Facebook or have breaking Cowboys news sent directly to your phone with Blue Star SMS alerts. Text "bluestar" to 622339 (NBCDFW) to subscribe, text HELP for more info, and text STOP to end the subscription. Message and data rates may apply.Read more about it here.

Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
Contact Us