Samuel Womack dons No. 0 jersey

There are numbers the San Francisco 49ers will never issue again, like 16, 8, and 80 due to the massive legacies behind them in 49er lore. And then there are numbers with a legacy yet to be created, like No. 0. And that aforementioned number has been claimed by 49ers safety Sam Womack. Womack once played under No. 26 but that is no more.

As training camp got underway on Wednesday, beat writers tweeted out Womack has claimed No. 0 as a jersey. This makes him the first 49er to have No. 0 in history. If all goes well, he could be the last.

That’s a long shot, though. 49ers owner and CEO Jed York has said he doesn’t like retiring jerseys. The last time the 49ers retired a jersey was in 2010 for Jerry Rice. And even principle isn’t going to stop someone from retiring that number. Since Rice is the GOAT and all.

Speaking of anything they may retire in the future, the number that comes to mind is Frank Gore, No. 21.

Back to Womack. Womack was a great standout in pre-season for 2022 and with an offseason under his belt, seeing what he’s capable of in 2023 will be something to watch. It’s just going to be strange to see him, or any player for that matter with No. 0.

I may have been the only one who thought No. 1 in and of itself was jarring, but No. 0 just reminds me of “Zero”, that Sesame Street character.