Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold says he made the switch from jersey No. 0 to No. 6 in honor of his friend and late Alabama teammate Khyree Jackson.
Jackson, who at the time was a rookie cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings, died on July 6 last year after a three-car crash in Prince George’s County, Maryland, that also killed two of his high school football teammates. A driver involved in the crash was charged with 13 counts, including DUI and criminally negligent vehicular manslaughter.
Arnold, 22, also briefly wore No. 6 at John Paul II Catholic High School in Tallahassee, Florida, where he played wide receiver and safety, but will be returning to the number in the NFL for a bigger message.
“We all know what happened to my friend Khyree and I just feel like just being able to honor his legacy and then the impact that he even had on me,” Arnold told the “New Wave Podcast” with Ryan Williams and Jaylen Mbakwe. “Just coming out here and then just being able to play with somebody … Khyree when he showed up here, it was really like no dead moments when it came to football.
“The guy was a competitor, the ultimate competitor and it’s kind of just that extra motivation when you look down and you say, ‘Dang man, I got on that 6 and my brother living through me at the same time,'” he said.
After Jackson’s death, Williams and Lions safety Brian Branch, another former Alabama star, both missed training camp practice to attend Jackson’s funeral service on July 26 in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Branch described the moment as being bigger than football as Jackson’s legacy continues to live on through his peers.
“It’s just like they have those sayings where football is bigger than you so just looking at it like talking to his little brother. He can go look on the screen and look in the camera and say, ‘he’s wearing number 6 because of my big brother,'” Arnold told the podcast.
“That’s amazing and then just being able to talk to his family, talk to his dad or his mom and just letting them know like, ‘At the end of the day, Terrion ain’t forgot about Khyree.”
Arnold wasn’t the only Lions player to switch his uniform number this offseason. Running back Jahmyr Gibbs changed from No. 26 to Arnold’s No. 0 while wide receiver Jameson Williams changed from No. 9 to No. 1, which is the same number he wore in college at Alabama.
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