New England Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington confirmed Tuesday that he indeed relinquished his No. 24 jersey to veteran free-agent signee Adrian Wilson, who had offered his new teammate a year's worth of diapers for his infant son in exchange.
"The icing on the cake was he's going to come over and babysit a few times," Arrington said with a laugh in a "SportsCenter" appearance. Arrington will now wear jersey No. 25.
And yes, Wilson did in fact make good on his diaper offer, as a UPS truck-full of diapers showed up at Arrington's home.
"A very generous amount," Arrington said.
Arrington was also asked about recent comments from Steelers defensive back Ryan Clark, who said that Tom Brady "sees ghosts" at times while being pressured in the pocket. Clark, who was serving as a week-long guest analyst for ESPN at the time of his remarks, later referred to Brady as the toughest quarterback to face in the NFL in a radio interview with WEEI in Boston.
After hearing the comments played over the studio set, Arrington quipped, "Ryan didn't say that. That wasn't Ryan, was it? He didn't say anything about me, did he?"
The 26-year old then deferred comment on Clark's remarks.
"That's just one of those things that's between Ryan and Tom," he said. "I know Tom, he does his talking on the field, so I'm going to leave that one alone. I'm going to let Tom defend himself on that one, as much as I like to come to my quarterback's defense."
When given the opportunity to offer words for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, Arrington heaped praise on the signal caller.
"Ben, he's a tremendous player, a tremendous competitor," he said. "I definitely look forward to that game [against the Steelers] this year. We'll cross bridges when we get there."
