The Green Bay Packers have given the number 52 jersey Clay Matthews wore with the team to Rashan Gary. One person upset with the decision was Matthews himself.
The Packers' official Twitter account tweeted a picture of Gary, their newly drafted edge rusher. In the picture, Gary is wearing the number 52 jersey Matthews wore for 10 seasons with the franchise.
Not long after the tweet was sent, Matthews responded. Whether Matthews is seriously upset at the sight of his number 52 being donned by another player already is unknown.
Yet, the former Packers linebacker threw in a subtle “lol” at the end of his tweet to possibly make it humorous.
This offseason, Green Bay decided to part with the veteran pass rusher. Not long after, Matthews found a new home with the Los Angeles Rams.
Regardless, Clay Matthews spent a ton of time putting his blood, sweat, and tears into the Packers organization. Teams usually give it time to hand over numbers once worn by one of their key players.
In his 10 seasons with the Packers, Matthews had 83.5 sacks (58th of all-time), 121 tackles for loss, and 15 forced fumbles. There was a point in his career when Matthews was one of the best defensive players in the NFL.
It may not be definite that Gary is going to be wearing number 52 in the first place. We won't officially know numbers for rookies until the preseason; sometimes guys change numbers multiple times.
Either way, this situation seems as though it could be blown out of proportion. Hopefully Rashan Gary and Clay Matthews can both have successful seasons for their new teams.