South Carolina to retire Alshon Jeffery's jersey

All-America and All-SEC wide receiver Alshon Jeffery will have his jersey retired in ceremonies at halftime of South Carolina’s Sept. 23 game at Williams-Brice Stadium against Mississippi State, it was announced today.

“Alshon Jeffery is one of the best players in Gamecock football history and is deserving of having his jersey retired,” said South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “Alshon set the standard at his position in a program that has developed a number of great wide receivers in its history.”

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Halftime ceremonies include having Jeffery’s name lit up on the Williams-Brice Stadium press box.

The St. Matthews, S.C. native came to South Carolina as one of top wide receiver recruits in the nation in 2009 from Calhoun County High School and made his mark immediately for the Gamecocks.

Jeffery finished his three-year career with 183 catches for 3,042 yards and 23 touchdowns. In the Gamecock career record books he ranks third in receptions, second in receiving yards, tied for first in receiving touchdowns, first in 100-yard receiving games (12), sixth in yards per reception (16.6) and third in consecutive games with a reception (36).

As a true freshman in 2009, he was named consensus Freshman All-SEC and a first-team Freshman All-American. He had a team-high 46 catches for 763 yards and six touchdowns during his first year at Carolina. Against Kentucky in his freshman season, he had seven catches for 138 yards and three touchdowns and was named SEC Freshman of the Week. He followed that up later in the season with eight catches for a season-best 161 yards and a score against Vanderbilt, and five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown against Arkansas.

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Jeffery’s best statistical season for the Gamecocks was his sophomore campaign in 2010. He led the SEC with 88 catches for 1,517 yards and nine touchdowns enroute to earning All-America and unanimous All-SEC honors and helping the Gamecocks to their first SEC Eastern Division title. He was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top wide receiver. Against Auburn, during the regular season, Jeffery had eight catches for career-high 192 yards and two touchdowns. At the time, it was the fourth-highest receiving yardage game in school history and remains sixth on the all-time list. He earned the Ernest Brooks Offensive MVP Award with five catches for 141 yards in a win over Clemson and had nine catches for 130 yards against Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Prior to his junior season, ESPN ranked Jeffery as the best player in the SEC. He had 49 catches for 762 yards and eight touchdowns in his junior campaign. He was the Capital One Bowl MVP, catching four passes for 148 yards and had a 51-yard TD catch at the end of the first half to give Carolina a halftime lead that helped propel the Gamecocks to a win over Nebraska.

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Jeffery was selected in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and went on to a nine-year NFL career with the Bears and Philadelphia Eagles. He caught 475 career passes for 6,786 yards and 46 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl in his second NFL season while playing with the Bears. In his first season with the Eagles, Jeffery played in the Super Bowl, and helped Philadelphia defeat New England with three catches for 73 yards and a touchdown.

In 2019, Jeffery made the Bears’ list of the Top 100 players in franchise history.

Jeffery’s jersey retirement gives the Gamecocks six such football recognitions in school history. Last season, Jadeveon Clowney’s number 7 jersey was retired in a ceremony at halftime of the Georgia State game. Sterling Sharpe (#2), Steve Wadiak (#37), George Rogers (#38) and Mike Johnson (#56) also have their names lighted up on the Williams-Brice Stadium Press Box as jersey retirements.

The Jeffery recognition marks the 10th jersey retirement ceremony for Gamecock Athletics since 2018 and the 23rd overall.

Since 2018, Earl Bass and Kip Bouknight (baseball), Trinity Johnson and Joyce Compton (softball), Miki Barber and Dawn Ellerbe (women’s track and field), Terrence Trammell (men’s track and field) and Clint Mathis (men’s soccer) have had their jerseys retired, along with Clowney and Jeffery.

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“One of the priorities for our department is recognizing and honoring the great accomplishments in our history,” said Tanner. “We have so much to celebrate, and we will continue to honor our great players, coaches and teams.”

Factors for jersey retirement include post-season national and conference recognitions, school record holders, impact on team accomplishments and either graduating from South Carolina or leaving the school in good academic standing.

The current athletics department policy states that the school retire jerseys not numbers. Athletics department records indicate the current policy has been in place since at least 2007. Numbers retired prior to then will continue to be in a retired state. Current and future student-athletes can wear numbers that were affiliated with jersey retirements after 2007.

Retired jerseys are selected by a committee of representatives from the South Carolina Athletics Department, University Board of Trustees, and the USC Lettermen’s Association.

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