Darrelle Revis will wear his No. 24 jersey for the upcoming season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Getting the jersey to wear, however, cost him a nice chunk of change, Yahoo! Sports reports.
"... A well-placed source tells me that the amount Darrelle Revis paid to Mark Barron in order to get Barron to give up No. 24 was - get this - $50,000," Paul Lukas of Uni-Watch.com wrote.
Barron, the 23-year-old safety for the Bucs, made a base salary in 2012 of $390,000. He's set to make $1.05 million in 2013. Revis' payment for the rights to the No. 24 provided a nice cash bonus for the seventh-overall 2012 draft pick, who will now wear No. 23.
It's not the first time an athlete has spent money to wear his familiar number. Former running back Clinton Portis agreed to pay Ifeanyi Ohalete $40,000 for the No. 26 jersey when he was traded to the Washington Redskins in 2004.
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning gave punter Jeff Feagles and his family a week-long, all-expenses-paid vacation in 2004 for the No. 10 jersey.
Chad Johnson was reportedly willing to pay any amount in 2011 to New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez for the No. 85 jersey - Hernandez ended up changing numbers free of charge.
Revis isn't sweating the cost.
He signed in March a six-year, $96 million contract with the Bucs and he's already earned more than $58.1 million over his first six seasons in the NFL. He earned a $1.5 million roster bonus from Tampa Bay on April 25 and another $1.5 million workout bonus this offseason.
Revis, who is recovering from ACL surgery, hopes to begin practicing soon with the Bucs.
