On the eve of his fifth season in Carolina, Brian Burns heard that, in a league with decades of history, the largest rulebook in sports and a commissioner who governed from an iron throne, change was afoot. Again. This particular change thrilled many of his NFL brethren, such as the 21 others who learned the league would allow players to wear No. 0 for the first time.
Burns, a defensive end who racked up 12.5 sacks last season, was already switching to a different position, edge rusher, in the Panthers’ scheme. With one change, he reasoned, why not another? Despite his status as a first-round draft pick (2019), Burns had not chosen his previous number, 53. He wasn’t especially attached to those digits—beyond how well he played while wearing them—after netting 39.5 sacks in his first four seasons. To switch, evolve and improve, while wearing a number no other Panther had ever worn? “[The history] was the main reason I wanted it,” he told me Monday over the phone from Charlotte.
Did he check that history out in the mirror before he ran out onto the field? Burns won’t even lie. Of course, he did! But he also sometimes forgot that he had switched. A few times, he looked up on the Jumbotron and saw a No. 0, in a Panthers jersey, and had to remind himself … that was him.
