The Odds of Numbered Socks

Football players were first numbered only on the scorecard, not their jerseys. Numbers on the back of jerseys arrived in 1905, and numbers on the front came in the late 1920s. That seemed good enough for most fans, but the National Photographers Association's request that sports teams add player numbers in additional locations on the uniform led to the development of TV numbers.

In 1957, the National Association of Conference Commissioners recommended that teams wear helmet numbers, which led to ...