The Tennessee Titans added two former No. 17s this offseason, Wan’Dale Robinson, who sported the number in New York, and first-round pick Carnell Tate, who donned it at Ohio State. With All-Pro returner Chimere Dike already holding 17, there were questions about how things would sort out.
Neither newcomer swiped Dike’s number. Robinson wound up wearing No. 4, and Tate, No. 14.
In an interview with Kay Adams on FanDuel TV’s “Up & Adams” show, Robinson said Thursday he never had his eye on No. 17, instead preferring No. 4 to honor his late friend, Rondale Moore, who died in February from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Robinson and Moore, both Kentucky natives, had been friends for years.
“I didn’t want it,” Robinson said of No. 17. “I was going in wanting a single digit, and then also my late friend, Rondale Moore, he wore No. 4. So that was kind of the reasoning behind me getting that number. Just kind of to honor him and the time that he was here. That’s where I was going in, I wanted No. 4. I don’t know about Carnell and exactly what went on with him and Chim. But, yeah, I was good with leaving 17 in the past.”
