New York Giants Are Fools To Unretire No. 1 Jersey For Malik Nabers

The New York Giants and longtime owner the Mara family have allowed first-round draft pick Malik Nabers to change the culture of the team.

In an unprecedented move, Giants owner John Mara reached out to former Giants Hall of Famer Ray Flaherty's family to ask if they would allow his No. 1 jersey to be unretired by the franchise so Nabers could wear it. Flowers was the first NFL player to ever have his number retired, in 1935. 

After initially saying no and holding out for nearly three weeks, the family eventually agreed and Mara informed Nabers that he would be allowed to wear Flowers' unretired jersey beginning next Sunday. 

The problem: it should never have gotten this far.

Malik Nabers will not be wearing No. 9 this year but rather unretiring Giants great Ray Flaherty's No. 1. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

FLAHERTY FAMILY INITIALLY SAID NO TO UNRETIRING JERSEY

First off, Malik Nabers has never even worn No. 1 before! 

In college, he wore No. 8, while throughout the Giants preseason he wore No. 9. 

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones wears No. 8 so that number is open, but kicker Graham Gano wears No. 9. You mean to tell me that John Mara or Nabers couldn't work out a deal for Gano to give up his number, or any other player? Instead, they had to go to the Flaherty family? Personally, I would have hung up, or demanded a HEFTY price for it. 

Sure, the Flaherty family gave him permission - but that's after they were put in a ridiculously uncomfortable position. When you add the fact that the Giants care "so much" about their storied history that they have special 100th Season Anniversary jerseys rolling out this year, not to mention that John Mara's father and original Giants' owner Wellington Mara's nickname ‘The Duke’ is what the Wilson NFL football is called; the fact that they even approached the Flaherty family is outrageous.

Speaking of those throwback Giant jerseys, Nabers hates them:

WILL THE GIANTS ASK ELI MANNING TO GIVE UP HIS JERSEY?

I'm sure some of you will say, "Who cares? His number was retired so long ago!" My response would be to those Giants fans, then okay, how about we unretire Lawrence Taylor's No. 56, or Eli Manning's No. 10. Feels a lot different then, no? 

All the Giants had to simply do was say, "No, sorry, No. 1 isn't available." Every other sports franchise does it - what's different now for the Giants? Malik Nabers hasn't played in one official NFL regular season snap, yet they are bending over backwards for him already? 

HORRIBLE PRECEDENT TO SET

What happens in a few years when they get a high draft pick, or they want to make a trade but the player demands that they get a number that the Giants have already retired? It does happen and it will happen again. Athletes are crazy and superstitious. Darrelle Revis paid a teammate $50,000 for his No. 24, while last year Stefon Diggs paid $100,000 to Texans safety Jimmie Ward so that he could wear his No. 20. 

By the Giants allowing Nabers (who I don't fault for asking, because he had nothing to lose) to unretire a historic number not only for the Giants but the game of football, they have just opened themselves up to an inevitable and unnecessary headache down the road. 

DO YOU THINK THE NEW YORK GIANTS SHOULD HAVE UNRETIRED NO. 1 FOR MALIK NABERS? 
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