Broncos rookie Shane Ray pays $2,000 for jersey number

ENGLEWOOD – NFL rookies have to make sacrifices to get what they want. Even first-round draft picks.

For Denver Broncos linebacker Shane Ray, what he wanted was to wear No. 56 like he did as an All-American at Missouri. Problem was, a former undrafted free agent already owned it.

So he negotiated.

"Shane gave me $2,000, nothing too big. Everyone else was talking about how he got first-round money, so I should charge him $20,000, but I'm not going to do something like that to him," said Broncos linebacker Shaquil Barrett, who wore No. 56 at CSU from 2011-13. "If I wore 56 for a whole year and was actually playing, it would have been a little bit tougher."

Barrett got his college number back two weeks ago when Reggie Walker offered to trade No. 50 with him, but after the NFL draft happened, he knew he'd likely have to give it up.

Barrett returns to wearing No. 48 like he did last season — fitting for a player out of Colorado State University. Legendary CSU athletic director Fum McGraw wore No. 48 as a player at Colorado A&M in the 1940s.

Broncos rookie minicamp, which Barrett is participating in, concludes Saturday.

For insight and analysis on athletics around Northern Colorado and the Mountain West, follow sports columnist Matt L. Stephens at twitter.com/mattstephens and facebook.com/stephensreporting.