After wearing No. 5 as a Texas Longhorn, Bijan Robinson will don No. 7 for the Falcons. Younghoe Koo has been wearing that number since 2019 but gave it to the rookie, and it came at a price.
“Younghoe Koo said he didn’t ask Bijan Robinson to pay him for No. 7. He asked Bijan to pick a charity down the line and make a donation,” Scott Bair of the Atlanta Falcons team website reports.
Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith have harped on the type of person they want in Flowery Branch, and this is the perfect example. Koo could’ve very easily made Robinson fork over 10K, 25K, or even more but decided against it, giving him the opportunity to do something bigger.
Moreover, Robinson revealed why he landed on No. 7:
“My reason was, it’s biblical, my faith is the biggest thing for me,” Bijan said, via the team’s website.
Robinson didn’t only get permission from Koo, but he took it a step further and asked the greatest No. 7 in club history — Michael Vick.
“I asked Younghoe, even Vick,” Bijan said, via the team’s website. “It’s big because there’s legendary dudes in this program that have worn it the right way. If I can just carry it on, that would be more of a blessing. … Hopefully we can talk about some special stuff in the future with it.”
Bijan Robinson continues to impress, and one day, we’ll consider him the greatest player in franchise history to wear the number. Some argue it should be retired for Mike Vick, and those people are wrong. He was the most electric player in the game for a stretch and was one of the most marketable players in Atlanta sports history, but no Falcons player has ever had his number retired. Vick won’t be the first, and No. 7 couldn’t have gone to a better successor.
Koo wore the number proudly, becoming one of the best kickers in club history. Now, it’s Bijan Robinson time.
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Photographer: Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire
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