In 2025, Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown will become the first player in franchise history to wear No. 0. Overshown announced the jersey number switch on social media on Wednesday.
“It means the world,” Overshown told the Star-Telegram. “Since day one, I feel like my teammates vouched for me to have it but having to earn it means more. Nobody can ever take it away from me that I was the first to wear 0 here and at my alma mater. It’s an honor. I’m still living a little Texas boy dream.”
After the NFL banned No. 0 from being worn in 1973, the league eased on jersey number restrictions back in 2021, allowing No. 0 to be worn again for all 32 teams. However, the Cowboys were an exception, as owner Jerry Jones regarded the infamous digit as “Rowdy’s number” referring to the team’s mascot since 1996. While technically wearing No. 00, the mascot had the claim on the jersey for three seasons.
After being drafted in the third round by the Cowboys in 2023 out of the University of Texas where he earned the nickname “Agent Zero” for wearing No. 0 for the Longhorns, Overshown was instead put in a No. 35 jersey for his rookie season. He would only play in two preseason games before tearing his ACL and missing the rest of the year.
In his second season, he changed to No. 13 in a breakout campaign that saw him tally 90 tackles, including eight for loss, and five sacks. In the locker room after a Thanksgiving Day win over the New York Giants that saw Overshown score his first career touchdown on a pick-six, star defensive end Micah Parsons said he’d “put in a call” for his teammate to get his college jersey number back for good.
“That’s Agent Zero,” Parsons said. “He’s going back to zero!”
Overshown will most likely have to wait to put on the jersey for the first time, as executive vice president Stephen Jones said last Monday that he is not expected to be ready to start the season after tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in early December. While the initial timeline foresaw Overshown missing the entirety of the 2025 season, his recovery has progressed well in the early months, putting him in line to return at some point in his third NFL campaign.
When he does, he will officially make Dallas Cowboys history when he puts on his jersey.
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