OU jersey swap could confuse

By Scott Wright

Published: August 17, 2006

NORMAN - Oklahoma wide receiver Malcolm Kelly changed his jersey number because his favorite player was Roy Williams.

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No, not that one. Not the one who made a name for himself in crimson and cream. The lanky wideout who donned the burnt orange of Texas.

"People might not like to hear this, but I was a big Roy Williams fan at UT," Kelly said. "He was my player. That's really what drew me to No. 4.

"I feel like a different player in No. 4. I feel like I'm back in high school."

With the much-discussed choice of the Oklahoma football team to leave names off the backs of jerseys, this year's Sooners will be identifiable by number alone. So with some key players swapping jersey numbers, confusion could ensue for fans.

Some of the prime players in this number drama are Reggie Smith, who switched from No. 1 to 3; Kelly, 2 to 4; Quentin Chaney, 19 to 84; Joe Jon Finley from 85 to 19; Mike Knall from 39 to 13; and Keenan Clayton from 9 to 22.

For Finley, his connection with No. 19 goes back to the first high school team his father coached. No. 19 on that team was worn by a young Eric Dickerson.

That inspired Finley's older brother, Matt, to choose No. 19. Joe Jon followed.

"I always wore it all the way from seventh grade through my senior year in high school," Finley said. "My brother always wore 19. He's my hero.

"When I first came here and saw myself on film in 85, it didn't feel right. Now, I've got it back, and it feels good."

Chaney didn't give it up easily. He made Finley work for a while.

"I was talking to him for two years, trying to get him to give it up," Finley said.

Last spring, Chaney switched from No. 19 to 84 as part of a personal overhaul of his football self. It began with his number, but he hopes it hasn't ended there.

"It's not that a number makes a person. A person makes a number," Chaney said. "I'm working to change, being more physical, going out and making plays and being the player that the coaches want me to be.

"I was just kind of leading (Finley) on. I kept giving him a hard time. We were going to switch anyway. He just didn't know when. We're both trying to go out and make our numbers look good."

Smith, who wore No. 3 at Edmond Santa Fe, knows the number won't make him a better cornerback. It's just a personal choice.

"A number's a number," he said. "I had grown so fond of it in high school, I just wanted the opportunity to get it back."

But it took a little work getting fellow defensive back Brian Jackson to give it up.

"He admires Deion (Sanders), and so he wanted to be like Deion in college and wear No. 2. I just encouraged him to do that. I said, 'You go ahead and do that. That's fine, I'll just take 3.'"

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