Eagles Propose Allowing NFL Players to Wear Number Zero in 2023, Plus Other Rule Ideas

Washington Post reporter Nicki Jhabvala shared the 2023 Playing Rules Proposal Summary via Twitter on Monday afternoon. Seven of the nine proposals center around reviewing plays, which is understandable considering the controversy that surrounded referee calls throughout the 2022 regular season, playoffs, and even continued into the Super Bowl.

The first one listed, which was interestingly proposed by the losing Super Bowl team affected by questionable calls, was the Eagles asking for yet another change to jersey number allowances. Philadephia wants players to be able to wear the number zero next season.

They also requested that kickers and punters receive permission to don any jersey with numbers between 0-49 and 90-99. Who doesn’t want to see a punter rocking #99 or a kicker trotting out for a field goal in #96?

Last year brought a slew of jersey number changes including running backs could wear 1-49 and 80-89 whereas in the past they could only sport 20-49. Wide Receivers went from only being able to wear 10-19 and 80-89, to the freedom sporting 1-49 and 80-89.

The tight end position expanded to 1-49 and 80-89, after only wearing 40-49 and 80-89 under the old rule.

Here’s a look at all nine 2023 rule proposals.