Marshall's Rakeem Cato to wear hurt teammate's jersey number
In his final collegiate game, Marshall quarterback Rakeem Cato will ditch his familiar No. 12 jersey.
Instead, according to the Herald-Dispatch, Cato will wear No. 31 when the Thundering Herd takes on Northern Illinois in Tuesday’s Boca Raton Bowl. He’ll wear the new number to honor a teammate, junior linebacker Evan McKelvey. McKelvey suffered an ACL injury on Oct. 4 against Old Dominion and several of his teammates have worn his No. 31 throughout the season. Cato will be the first offensive player to do so.
“We want Evan to know that we’re behind him for the whole season and support him, no matter what,” Cato said Saturday. “The defense has done a great job of wearing it all year. I just thought it was the perfect time for me to wear it.”
A teammate wore McKelvey’s number in every game since he went down except one – the team’s 67-66 overtime loss to Western Kentucky, Marshall’s only loss of the season. McKelvey said that it “means a lot” that his teammates wear his jersey number.
“The fact that Cato’s wearing it, that’s a big thing,” McKelvey said. “Why not in the bowl game, right? He’s a big-time player.”
Cato did not hesitate to give up his No. 12 for his final game, either.
“I know how much Evan McKelvey really loves the game of football and he’d kill to be on the field with us Tuesday,” Cato said.
Tuesday’s game kicks off at 6:00 p.m. ET at FAU Stadium.
For more Marshall news, visit HerdNation.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
