Johnny Unitas was an already-cut, never-threw-a-pass-in-training-camp free agent when he signed with the Colts in 1956 and was assigned jersey No. 19.

Carson Beck knows the name of Unitas and his Hall of Fame status. Not much more.

But like Unitas, Beck was assigned No. 19. The third-round pick didn’t love the digits, but he didn’t have a choice, and he knew that as soon as the Cardinals made him their third-round pick in April.

“I looked and thought, ‘There are no numbers between 1 and 19 except 19. Oh no,'” Beck told azcardinals.com, smiling as he said it. “All my friends started making fun of me. Not many quarterbacks have 19. So in my head I need to turn it into a positive thing, ‘OK, let’s make it my own.'”

When he first arrived at the University of Georgia, Beck wanted No. 11 but QB Stetson Bennett had it. He was assigned 15 (and even though Bennett soon left, he was not allowed to change.) He made sure he got 11 when he transferred to the University of Miami.

Then the Cardinals drafted him, but “somebody’s jersey will probably be getting retired here shortly so I don’t think 11 is a good option,” Beck said.

So it’s 19, and frankly, Beck has more pressing concerns. Beck doesn’t know what his rookie season will look like on the field, if at all. Jacoby Brissett didn’t practice throughout the offseason because of his contract situation, and Gardner Minshew II took the first-unit reps. Beck also watched Kedon Slovis get a good chunk of the remaining reps as Beck just tried to learn the NFL game.

“He is a rookie and rookies, they are difficult at times, they come from a different world, a different system, a different speed,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “With Carson we get extra time with him because he is a rookie, you work though a lot of things that the guys already know, or you push him through because of a lack of experience.”

Hackett’s father, Paul, was a longtime NFL assistant coach and offensive coordinator for nine years, in an era where rookie quarterbacks sat when they were first drafted so they could first learn before playing.

“What happened with that?” Nathaniel Hackett said with a grin. “It seemed like it worked pretty well for a while. Now it’s, ‘Let’s throw them in there.'”

That has been the narrative around Beck, that the Cardinals need to play him now to figure out if they need to take another QB in 2027.

“When that times comes, whenever it comes, it’ll be there,” Hackett said. “Now, we just have to keep pushing him.”

Beck, even in T-shirt-and-shorts work, has seen how the speed of the game is significantly different than college. He marvels at what he has been able to learn in just six weeks as a pro, saying he wonders often if the coaches get tired of him hanging around their offices, asking questions, spending 13 hours a day or so in the building.

Beck has consistently said he’s been told nothing about potential playing time and only wants to work to get on the field. Sure, there seems to be social media push for the rookie – one meme on X put Beck alongside the NBA’s Victor Wembanyana implying both would be the future stars in their respective sports – but Beck shrugs it off.

“That stuff is always cool but it means nothing,” he said. “I feel like it only hurts you if you pay attention to it. For me I try to stay off social media as much as possible for that exact reason. One day, they are talking like you’re so good and this and that, and that’s not good for your mental either. Obviously the bad is never good.

“I’m staying internally focused on what I need to do. It can be cool to see stuff, but I’d rather not see anything.”

His jersey number will get a similar treatment. Athletes earn an identity from a number, especially quarterbacks, Beck believes. He was called “15” so often while at Georgia that he still finds himself turning around when someone calls out to Minshew in that way.

When Beck was growing up, he went for 12 originally. That was the number of his beloved Aaron Rodgers, when Beck was “on the bandwagon.”

Beck can make 19 work. Bernie Kosar did with the Browns. Chiefs-era Joe Montana did. And of course, so did Unitas. If Beck plays the way he’d like, he can be the Rodgers-esque inspiration for some kid to wear 19.

“That would be pretty cool,” Beck said. “That would be a dream of mine, to put myself in a position where that is a thing.”

Source:  https://www.azcardinals.com/news/carson-beck-believes-cardinals-have-his-number-for-nfl-success