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When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers traded for Darrelle Revis they created a bit of an awkward situation: two high-profile players with the same jersey number, as 2012 first-round draft pick Mark Barron wore number 24 and Darrelle Revis wore that same number while playing for the New York Jets. Revis of course had that number tied into marketing and had had it for longer -- but it was still Barron's when he came to Tampa, and Barron was under no obligation to give up his number.
Revis quickly took care of that, apparently by paying Mark Barron a whopping $50,000. That, at least, is what Uni Watch reports (hat tip: JoeBucsFan). That's a lot of money, and per Cork Gaines of Business Insider it may be a record. It is at minimum more than he has ever heard anyone paying for that jersey number, although there are a bunch of big numbers in this 2005 New York Times story. Of course, high-profile players with big marketing deals and hence a big financial interest in retaining their number don't switch teams often.
But there you have it: millionaire A pays somewhat less wealthy millionaire B a bunch of money for the privilege of wearing a number. Millionaire B, by the way, has switched to number 23 -- which was worn by the much-maligned Myron Lewis at the time.
I just wonder how much Barron paid Lewis for his new jersey number.
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