Jaycee Horn, the Panthers first round draft pick out of South Carolina, has decided to wear #8 as a tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
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Horn is one of several players taking advantage of the NFL’s new jersey number rules, and thus #8 is clearly in the mix for corner backs to wear now.
Horn announced his decision over social media, citing “New Beginnings” as he steps into the NFL world after playing at a high level in college.
Jaycee Horn Pays Respect To Kobe Bryant, Chooses #8
Jaycee Horn went 8th overall to the Carolina Panthers in the 2021 NFL Draft. By taking Horn, the Panthers showed commitment to Sam Darnold as their franchise quarterback.
After the draft, Horn was asked about what number he would wear, but he didn’t have an answer to that question. During his time at South Carolina, Horn wore two numbers.
He started his college career donning the number 7, but after his teammate, Deebo Samuel was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers, Horn switched over to number 1.
Of course, as we all know Kobe Bryant is well remembered for wearing both number 8 and 24 during his career with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Horn was asked about whether he would wear the #24 or not as well. His response to that:
“It is a great number. It’s definitely in mind.”
However, at the end of the day, it appears that Horn’s brother convinced him to rock a single digit instead. As Horn said,
“I’m going to look at some of those single digits too though, see how those work out. My brother was talking to me about it on the way over here and changed my mind a little bit so we’ll see how it shakes out.”
Clearly, the single digits won out in the end. Regardless of whether Horn wore #8 or #24, his mind was always set on honoring Kobe Bryant.
