Tee Higgins to wear Oak Ridge, Clemson jersey number with Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is changing his number back to 5, the same one he wore throughout his careers at Oak Ridge High School and Clemson.

The Bengals made the announcement Wednesday with photos of Higgins in his new (old) jersey number.

He wore the number during his high school football days and won back-to-back Mr. Football awards with Oak Ridge, then had a stellar run with Clemson, winning a national championship and finishing runner-up in the College Football Playoff in back-to-back years.

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Higgins has worn No. 85 in each of his three seasons since being drafted by Cincinnati in 2020. Under the league's old jersey number rules, his number choices were restricted to double digits.

The NFL changed its jersey number rules in 2021 after Higgins was drafted, and approved a proposal to allow running backs, tight ends, fullbacks, H-backs and wide receivers to wear numbers 1-49 and 80-89. No one on the Bengals roster wore No. 5 last year, meaning it was available to Higgins, but he chose to stick with No. 85

The Bengals added that the new No. 5 Higgins jerseys will go on sale at the Bengals' Pro Shop on Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tee Higgins wears Oak Ridge, Clemson jersey number with Bengals