Stormin in Norman
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Oklahoma football: Zero day is finally here — No. 0 CB Woodi Washington

By Chip Rouse

Apr 23, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables shakes hands with Oklahoma Sooners cornerback Woodi Washington (0) during the spring game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 23, 2022; Norman, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables shakes hands with Oklahoma Sooners cornerback Woodi Washington (0) during the spring game at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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It’s here. After a long eight-month absence, Oklahoma football is alive and well and primed to kick off a new college season. The countdown has reached zero hour, and today dawns the Brent Venables era of Sooner football.

Today’s final installment in our series counting down to the 2022 Oklahoma season opener features the No. 0, which, believe it or not, has had a very short life as far as Sooner jersey numbers are concerned.

While single-digit jersey numbers are among the most prized honors in all of college football, generally awarded to the best or most popular players on either offense of defense, the number zero has been excluded from the numbering sequence until very recently.

Prior to the 2020 college football season, jersey No. 0 was an illegal number, with only 1 through 9 available in the single-digit range. This all changed in 2020, when the NCAA Rules Committee proposed that the number “0” be allowed as a jersey number.

Nov 13, 2021; Waco, Texas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Eric Gray (0) pitches the ball to wide receiver Jackson Gleeson during the first half against the Baylor Bears at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2021; Waco, Texas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Eric Gray (0) pitches the ball to wide receiver Jackson Gleeson during the first half against the Baylor Bears at McLane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /

Redshirt junior cornerback Woodi Washington debuted as a Sooner freshman in 2019 wearing jersey No. 5. One year later, however, he debuted as the first Sooners to don the jersey No. 0, the number he still wears today.

While Washington wears number 0 on the defensive side, senior running back Eric Gray has that same honor on the offensive side of the ball.

Both players are being counted on for major contributions this Sooner football season. Washington is the starter on one side at cornerback defensively. He played just six games last season after suffering an injury early in the season, starting in five of them. Washington recorded 27 tackles, 20 of them of the solo variety, and picked off two passes in those six games.

Gray is the No. 1 running back entering the 2022 season. This is his second season at OU after transferring from Tennessee. In 2021, he rushed for 412 yards and a 5.3-yards-per-attempt average with four rushing TDs. Gray was also a valuable option catching passes out of the backfield, making 23 catches, two of which resulted in touchdowns.

It’s a safe bet that the player(s) wearing Oklahoma jersey number 0 are going to make a lot of important plays for the Sooners this season.

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