Abdul Carter is used to lofty expectations and bearing the weight of a legendary jersey number. When he arrived at Penn State as a true freshman in 2022, he immediately joined St1x C1ty, donning LaVar Arrington’s legendary No. 11 and more than living up to it over his three-year career in Happy Valley.
Now, Carter is the face of the New York Giants as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but that doesn’t mean he gets to wear the most legendary jersey number in the franchise’s history.
Lawrence Taylor’s No. 56 is retired by the New York Giants, the ultimate sign of respect for arguably the greatest defensive player in the history of the NFL, who led the Giants to two Super Bowl titles. Yet, Carter asked the legend if he could wear the number.
Carter is hopefully the next great defensive end in New York history who will join Taylor and Michael Strahan, but Taylor was quick to shut down his request just one day after draft night.
Lawrence Taylor shuts down Abdul Carter’s request for No. 56
This year’s No. 1 overall pick, Cam Ward, will wear No. 1 with the Titans. That number is retired by the franchise in honor of legendary quarterback Warren Moon, but Moon approved Ward’s request to wear No. 1, which he donned in his historic senior season at Miami.
Taylor wasn’t interested in doing the same, and honestly, good for him.
The great @NYPost_Serby gets LT on Abdul Carter. Respectfully, LT says of 56,
— Mark Hale (@HaleMark) April 26, 2025
“I know he would love to wear that number, but hey, I think it’s retired. Get another number, I don’t care if it’s double zero, and then make it famous.” #giants https://t.co/ZRSSELN66l
When numbers are retired, they’re retired for good, not until some young star feels bold enough to ask nicely. Taylor also made a great point in his rebuttal to Carter. The former Nittany Lion should develop his own identity in New York and make his own number famous, maybe even No. 11.
Carter responded and seemed to take the rejection in stride.
The worst thing he could say was NO!! My stance don’t change, LT is the 🐐 nothing but respect… This just gonna make me work even harder!! I love it.
— Abdul Carter (@1NCRDB1) April 26, 2025
St1x C1ty is a unique tradition to Penn State and college football, with so many more players on rosters, it’s incredibly impractical to retire jersey numbers, so handing them down is a better way to honor the greats that came before. In the NFL, players like LT get their number retired, and no matter how great Carter is for the Giants, it would be nearly impossible to live up to the eight-time All-Pro, 1986 MVP, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, and NFL Hall of Famer.