Imagine the following scenario: Benjamin Russell’s All-State, do-everything quarterback D.J. Maddox is transferring to Dadeville. Dadeville’s happy to get him. He makes their team that much better. But there’s a problem. Ever since Pee Wee football, Maddox has worn the No. 16. The problem lays in the fact that Dadeville’s starting free safety Jerome Blakely already wears No. 16 and has done so since his Pee Wee days as well. Who or what decides who will wear No. 16 next year?

While this local incident is fictional, this same scenario has played itself out time and again on the national stage many times over. Deals have been made and money has been paid all in the name of getting that one particular number.