With Clint Dempsey taking on his No. 2 jersey, Yedlin changed to his old college jersey number.
When DeAndre Yedlin heard that Clint Dempsey would be his newest teammate with Seattle Sounders FC, he knew that he would be in for a change in jersey numbers. In dropping his old number for an icon in American soccer, he now assumes the number of a Sounders FC icon in Fredy Montero.
On Tuesday at training, the All-Star rookie defender debuted his new number when he wore the No. 17 training jersey out to the fields at Starfire Sports.
”When a guy like Clint Dempsey comes in and he’s been ‘2’ for most of his life, you’re not going to turn him down. I thought it was important that he got that,” Yedlin said.
Yedlin landed on No. 17 because it was the jersey number he wore in his two seasons with the University of Akron, but the number’s history in the Seattle organization wasn’t lost on Yedlin.
“It was Fredy’s old number, so it’s quite an honor to wear it,” he smiled.
