Maybe Hollywood Brown Will Make No. 0 Memorable For Eagles

Growing up in Hollywood, Florida, that is, Marquise Brown had some favorite numbers. He liked 5, 36, 81, and 87. Maybe it wasn’t so much about the number but the players who wore them – all Eagles.

Now, Brown is with the Eagles, and he has a favorite number. He revealed on social media that he will don 0 this fall for his new team. He was No. 15 in his first two seasons with the Ravens, switched to 5, then became No. 2 with the Cardinals before returning to No. 5 last year with the Chiefs.

Before Brown became Hollywood, a nickname given to him by announcer Gus Johnson during a 2017 game that highlighted Brown’s hometown, he was an Eagles fan. Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Terrell Owens, and Todd Pinkston wore those numbers, respectively. Brown watched from afar.

He was an Eagles fan living amongst a group of family members who had their own favorite teams.

“A lot of my family is all over the place with the teams they love,” said Brown. “My first memories of Philly was with Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, TO, coach (Todd) Pink(ston). He was out there in Kansas City with me. I told all those guys it was surreal even being coached by coach Pink because I watched him growing up.”

The number 0 wasn’t made available by the NFL until March 2023; it cannot be worn by an offensive or defensive lineman. Ironically, it was the Eagles who proposed that it be allowed during the owners’ meetings that year.

Brown will be the fourth Eagle to wear 0 since the uniform change was adopted. No one has worn it more than a season.

D’Andre Swift was the first, and he wore it well. The running back rushed for 1,049 yards with five touchdowns in 2023, before joining the Bears in free agency. It was his first 1,000-yard season of an NFL career that began as the 35th overall pick in the 2020 draft by the Detroit Lions.

Then came a pair of defensive players to grab 0 – Bryce Huff and Josh Uche. The expectation – at least from the Eagles’ perspective – was that Huff would have 0 for the next few years. Maybe make it a legacy number. Huff, however, failed to live up to the big contract he signed two Marches ago when the Eagles gave him a three-year deal for $51.1 million, with $34 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $16.1M. Huff retired this offseason at age 27.

Then there was Josh Uche, whose impact was minimal last year, though not all his fault. He was usually the odd man out on game day, though he saw action in 12 games with 244 defensive snaps (31 percent) and had one sack, 23 tackles, and three QB hits.

The Eagles have yet to update their roster with the newcomers’ jersey numbers, but, in addition to Brown, a few have unofficially been released. They are:

2 – Riq Woolen

17 – Arnold Ebiketie

Also, running back Tank Bigsby has reportedly changed from No. 37 to No. 8.