SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- What's in a number?
Apparently, many things to a team MVP. Or did you miss San Francisco 49ers kicker Phil Dawson's Tweet today announcing he was changing uniform numbers.
I wore #4 as a Texas Longhorn. I wore #4 as a Cleveland Brown. I am happy to announce, I will wear #4 in 2016 in SF!
— Phil Dawson (@phil_dawson_4) March 28, 2016
Dawson rocked No. 9 his first three seasons in Santa Clara with punter Andy Lee wearing No. 4. But after Lee was traded to the Cleveland Browns last offseason, the digit was left unclaimed.
Until Monday, apparently.
Dawson, 41, will be entering his 18th season in the NFL, his fourth with the Niners after signing a reported one-year, $3.134 million deal to return to the South Bay on March 14.
He is coming off a standout season in which his teammates voted him the recipient of the Bill Walsh Award after he converted 24 of 27 field goal attempts, including 19 straight in 2015. That is the second-longest such streak in franchise history, behind the 27 straight he converted in 2013.
His 13 field goals of at least 50 yards are the most in 49ers franchise history and he is second in league history, among kickers with at least 300 field goal attempts, in making 84.5 percent of his career field goals.
And while Dawson lost his kickoff duties last year to rookie punter Bradley Pinion, Dawson's 386 career field goals are tied for the ninth-most in NFL history, with David Akers, and Dawson's 1,611 career points rank 16th in league history.
What's in a number, you ask? A lot, when it comes Dawson's career figures and the digit on his jersey.