Chiefs rookie Dee Ford to wear Derrick Thomas' college number 55

After signing his deal with the Kansas City Chiefs, rookie linebacker Dee Ford decided to pay homage to a great from Chiefs past.

Ford wore number 30 in college while at Auburn. He can't wear that number in the NFL so he chose number 55 in honor of  former Chiefs and Alabama great Derrick Thomas.  

Kind of unusual since Ford attended Auburn and Thomas went to Alabama. And we all know how deep the roots of the rivalry run.

Ford explained why he chose Thomas' 55.

"The opportunity presented itself," Ford said, via the Chiefs official website. "I'd play at any number, but of course 55 came available. This is Derrick Thomas' college number. It's all good. I'm not trying to be Derrick Thomas, but he's a guy that definitely inspired me."

Thomas played for Alabama before Ford was born, but that doesn't mean he didn't see film of one of the greatest defensive players in the game of football.  Even though Ford comes from the other side of the fence this is something that both Auburn and Alabama fans can get behind.

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Yao Ming denies rumored interest to buy the Los Angeles Clippers

Former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming has denied that he is interested in buying the LA Clippers, saying the ESPN report that came out on Friday linking him to a Chinese group of investors interested in purchasing the franchise from disgraced owner Donald Sterling is not true.

In an email, Yao told Jonathan Feigen of Ultimate Rockets.com: "I just heard about it in the morning my time. I really don't know where this news came from."

The 33-year old Yao was reported by ESPN to have been working to assemble a team of Chinese investors to make a run at the Clippers. Citing multiple reports, Sterling has given his wife Shelly the authority to negotiate with interested groups for a sale of the franchise.

The ESPN report also said that Yao was also interested in buying the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this year but decided not to pursue when then owner Herb Kohl decided that keeping the team in Milwaukee a mandatory requirement for any new owner. Eventually, Kohl sold the team to Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry for $550 million.

The ESPN report also said that apart from Yao, another retired NBA star in Grant Hill was also putting a consortium of investors to make a run at the Clippers.

Since retiring in 2011 due to various injuries, Yao has been pursuing a degree in economics at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Being a big Chinese star, he has also been involved in numerous projects with NBA Asia. He owns the Shanghai Sharks professional basketball team, having bought it in 2009.