Ad Disclosure
Under Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri newcomers start practices without a jersey number, having to earn the number.
“Nothing’s given, everything’s earned and they haven’t heard that number yet,” Drinkwitz said in March, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “They’ll earn a number when their position coach and position group determines that they’ve done enough, whether it’s through effort and pride or making plays that they deserve a number. But they don’t have a number yet. Nobody new has earned that right yet.”
RELATED: Mizzou announces jersey numbers for 3 newcomers
On Saturday, 5 more Mizzou newcomers earned their jersey numbers. The news was shared by the team’s official Twitter account.
The first social media reveal showed No. 31 for wide receiver Dionte Smith, No. 69 for offensive lineman Drake Heismeyer and No. 4 for funning back Elijah Young. A second post followed with No. 13 for wide receiver JJ Hester and No. 21 for defensive back Tyler Jones.
Presumably, all contributing Tigers newcomers will have earned a jersey number before the season-opener at home against Alabama on Sept. 26.
Earned Not Given 😤@B_Smith400 ➡️ #31@DHeismeyer77 ➡️ #69@elijahyoung52 ➡️ #4#MIZ x #NewZou 🐯🏈 pic.twitter.com/vYQHbMhbhO
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) August 22, 2020
Earned Not Given 😤@JJHester_8 ➡️ #13@Tyler21_Jones ➡️ #21#MIZ x #NewZou 🐯🏈 pic.twitter.com/pdn2qFfbEK
— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) August 22, 2020
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
