PITTSBURGH – After making the cut and securing the starting cornerback spot, Beanie Bishop Jr. has decided on a number for his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bishop will wear No. 31, a number that has been reserved almost exclusively for defensive backs throughout Steelers history. Safety Keanu Neal was the last player to wear that number for the team, doing so in the 2023 season.
Pro Football Hall of Fame member Donnie Shell, as well as Mike Logan, Ross Cockrell and Mike Hilton are some of the more famous names who have worn the number throughout the team’s history.
Pittsburgh has retired three numbers, although the franchise has a variety of others that belonged to franchise legends and are no longer given out out of respect for those players, even though they have not been officially retired. Some examples include No. 12 for Terry Bradshaw, No. 43 for Troy Polamalu and No. 86 for Hines Ward.
As a result, the Steelers provide duplicate numbers when needed throughout the preseason. This was the case with Bishop, who shared No. 30 with Jaylen Warren and was forced to switch after being added to the team’s original 53-man roster.
Bishop began his college career at Western Kentucky wearing number 29 (’18-’20) before swapping it for number 21 during his final year at the school in 2021. He then transferred to Minnesota for the 2022 season, where he wore number 7. Bishop’s last stop was at West Virginia last year, and he opted for number 11.
However, none of those numbers were up for grabs this year. No. 11 belongs to Van Jefferson, No. 21 is Darius Rush, No. 29 belongs to Ryan Watts, and No. 7 belonged to Ben Roethlisberger, which likely means no player will ever wear that number for the Steelers again.
Bishop is Pittsburgh’s only undrafted free agent from the class of 2024 to make the final cuts on Tuesday, beating out Thomas Graham Jr. for the starting job after making six tackles and allowing three receptions this preseason.
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