New England Patriots
McGinest originally earned the number after Junior Seau at USC. Later, the linebackers had a full circle moment with it.
Willie McGinest shared how he got the No. 55 at USC and brought it to the NFL. (Barry Chin/The Boston Globe)
Thanks to Willie McGinest, the No. 55 jersey became a bit of an iconic one in the early days of the Patriots dynasty.
McGinest wore that number during his tenure in Foxborough from 1994-2005, carrying it on from his college days at USC. As it turns out, he only got that honor in college thanks to a tradition started by fellow USC great Junior Seau.
McGinest appeared on the “All the Smoke” podcast ahead of the Super Bowl and explained the origins of No. 55 and Seau.
“He [Seau] only played one year of college football … he played his junior year and went nuts,” McGinest said. “He had like 24 sacks. Fifth pick in the draft off of one year. … After his year, they made that a special number for the premiere linebacker coming in.”
Wearing No. 55 is the ultimate honor 🫡
Willie McGinest tells the inspirational story of No. 55, a tradition started by Junior Seau at USC that eventually reunited them with the New England Patriots.
RIP Junior Seau 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/kin1H2TuYT
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) February 7, 2026
That opened the door for McGinest to don the jersey, and once he got to Foxborough, he stuck with it. Over those 11 seasons in the pros, McGinest made No. 55 his own, appearing in four Super Bowls, winning three, and becoming the Patriots second all-time sack leader.
Flash forward to 2006, McGinest left New England, and Bill Belichick brought Seau in that offseason. Seau was a 15 year NFL veteran and already established himself as a future hall of famer by this point. But he still respected McGinest enough to ask for his blessing to wear No. 55 in Foxborough.
“The air came out of me, I was like, ‘yeah you kidding me bro? You gave birth to that number, that’s your number’,” McGinest recalled. “He said ‘yeah I know bro. But you made it something here in New England’. It was just all respect and all love and that’s the kind of guy Junior was man.”
It was a full circle moment between a pair of all-time great linebackers. And McGinest and Seau wore the number so well that apparently Belichick attempted to start a tradition of his own with the number.
A fellow Patriots great Brandon Spikes chimed in on the No. 55 discussion, saying Belichick made him wear the number when he got to Foxborough.
Spikes wore the number until 2013, capping off 20 full years of history with No. 55 in New England. Others have worn the number since, but not in the same way Spikes, Seau and McGinest did.
Nobody on New England’s active roster wears No. 55, but given that Mike Vrabel played with both McGinest and Seau, maybe the anecdote will inspire him to continue on that tradition. Either way, a tradition that began at USC in the 90s found significance in the early days of the Patriots dynasty.
Vrabel and Drake Maye look to fast-track a new Patriots dynasty on Sunday.
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