Carnell Tate is going to look a bit different with the Tennessee Titans with a new jersey number. The No. 17 from Ohio State will not be carried on.
Carnell Tate had his first of a pair of two-touchdown games against Northwestern in 2024 and it was a special moment for the Ohio State football star . Tate returning home to Chicago to play a college football game where his mother was previously murdered was undoubtedly a day full of emotion for him.
Fast forward a couple of years and Tate is in the NFL following being picked by the Tennessee Titans at No. 4 overall. The Chicago native may have worn No. 17 at Ohio State, but he's going to look a bit different in the NFL with a new number.
Tate will wear No. 14 with the Titans in his rookie season. The No. 17 wasn't an option for the Ohio State product due to Tennessee WR Chimere Dike already wearing the digit. Tate had to pick a new number and it's close to his heart.
"Probably the best number available for real," Tate said. "But then also you can look at my mom's birthday, November 14, too. But you go round one, pick four, like you got two ways to look at it. There's just a new opportunity. One plus four or fourteen."
To me, it sounds like Tate will be keeping the No. 14 even when more numbers open up following cutdowns before the NFL season begins. In July of 2023, Tate's mother, Ashley Griggs, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Chicago. As Tate was closing in on his first fall camp as a college freshman, he also had to face the loss of his mother in a tragic event.
Jersey numbers mean more to some players than others, but you often see players attaching their numbers to something close to them. Tennessee's new No. 1 wideout did just that - and he has a chance to make it a popular jersey with a big rookie season in Nashville.
