Robert Griffin III first professional athlete to wear Roman numerals on jersey?

Robert Griffin III might be the first professional athlete in the four major sports to wear Roman numerals on the back of his jersey.

RG3 might be the first professional athlete with Roman numerals on his jersey. (Getty Images)

If you've been following the rise of Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, you've undoubtedly seen a jersey with his name on it like the one above. But you may or may not have been thrown off by the fact that Griffin's jersey actually contains a suffix on it.

That's because the NFL, per Uniwatch's Paul Lukas, changed the rules for what was allowable on the back of a jersey. "Jr" and "Sr" and "III" and whatnot may now be stitched on the back of jerseys, whereas it was previously against the rules to do so.

Lukas confirms with the Redskins that they team is also planning on having RG3 wear a "Griffin III" jersey during games. And Lukas, the sports fashion historian of sorts, doesn't just believe that RG3 (RGIII?) is the first NFL player to wear Roman Numerals on Back (RNOB) of his jersey, but the first professional athlete (in the big four sports of NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL) to do so.

But does it make sense for Griffin to have a "III" on his jersey? Well, from his perspective, absolutely. As I noted when RG3's first commercial with Adidas came out, there is a remarkable symmetry between the suffix attached to his name and the logo of the shoe company that happens to pay him a lot of money. Lukas actually believes that's why Griffin chose Adidas over Nike; if it's true, it's beyond savvy.

And in other random suffix-related-uniform news, Lukas reports that Redskins running back Roy Helu will be rolling with "Helu, Jr." on the back of his uniform in 2012, which is what he did in college.

Players who actually have suffixes should enjoy this opportunity now, before a certain someone decides to change his name to Pepe, Jr and ruin it for everyone.