In 1967, football jerseys were a teen fad in New York City High Schools. The world was decades away from maniacal sports marketing so the jerseys were bloodless: no team logo, no team colors, no superstar stranger's name along the upper back. Just white jerseys with striped shoulders and a sullen, boxy number. The fad seemed radiantly dull... until a trend emerged. The number -- The. Number. -- was the same on every jersey.
I was pre-teen and groping: Sixty-nine....
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