Von Miller to wear number 40 with Rams

Just as LA Rams receiver Cooper Kupp starts to challenge Elroy Hirsch’s legendary production with the franchise, here comes Von Miller to take his number. (With his blessing.)

After being traded to the Rams on Monday, Von Miller went searching for a new number, as former Denver Broncos teammate Justin Hollins now wears “58” with the team. Miller instead is switching back to 40, which was his number in college at Texas A&M, where he had 27.5 sacks and 39 tackles for a loss over his final two seasons with the Aggies. That helped Miller get drafted with the number two pick in the 2011 draft (the Rams did quite well to get Robert Quinn at 14 that year) and he chose the number 58 to honor NFL great Derrick Thomas.

Miller asked fans last year if he should switch back to 40, but they told him not to do it.

Von Miller now gets his chance to wear 40, with blessing from the family of former Rams legend Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch. The Hall of Famer started his career as “80” with the Chicago Rockets, but switched to 40 when he went to the Rams and never left it. Hirsch had 66 catches for 1,495 yards and 17 touchdowns in 1951, insane numbers for any era but especially considering it was 70 years ago, and those numbers will be challenged by Kupp as the season goes on.

But Hirsch had those stats in only 12 games.

It’s a big number for Von Miller to fill, but he gets the opportunity because we all know he’s joining Hirsch in Canton.