Cinco De Mayo is a holiday not many people completely understand but we all tend to celebrate it at our nearest Mexican restaurant. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over Napoleon III’s French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Soooo… how can we turn this into a sports article?
Let’s take a look back at some players who have worn the number five in the city of Indianapolis to remember May 5th.
We would love to warn you that some of these players may bring back joy, some you may not know, but there is one that might bring back some bad memories for some Colts fans.
Jalen Rose (Pacers)
(Photo by JOHN RUTHROFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Jalen Rose has a lot to be known for, being a part of the fab five at Michigan, his show on ESPN Jalen & Jacoby, but we want to focus on his time when he represented the number 5 in Indy.
Jalen had a great career wearing number 5 in Indianapolis. In his six years with the Indiana Pacers (1996-2002) he played alongside Reggie Miller and competed for three consecutive Eastern Conference Finals and the 2000 NBA Finals.
He never won a NBA Final but was a strong playmaker for the Indiana Pacers for three out of his six years to help make a great push.
Hank Aaron (Indianapolis Clowns)
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Not many of you would have thought you would be associating the number 5 with Hank Aaron today. Normally it is 44, the number he wore for 22 straight seasons, or 755, the number of home runs he hit in his career. Number 5 is the number Hank Aaron wore when he played on the Indianapolis Clowns for 3 short months in the Negro American’s League when he was 18 years old. That number transferred to his rookie season as the Boston Braves bought his contract from the Clowns but didn’t last long as he changed to number 44 in his second season with the team.
Kerry Collins (Indianapolis Colts)
(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Kerry Collins is a name quite a few of you should remember. He had a great career, 17 seasons, 19th on the all-time passing yards list, definitely a guy who will be remembered.
But in Indianapolis, he is remembered as the guy who took the next starting snap that ended Manning’s 227 Consecutive starts streak, the guy who lead the Colts to a 0-3 start after the Manning era, but mainly the guy who was given the starting job during the season we tanked for Andrew Luck.
Kerry Collins Career in Indy was short, quick, and to the point. But, he was here.
As you can see the number 5 is not the most chosen number in the city of Indianapolis but I think one thing we can all agree on is those are 3 fascinating careers to take a look back on thanks to Cinco De Mayo.
Two honorable mentions that played in Indiana but outside of Indianapolis are Paul Hornung (1956 Notre Dame Running Back) who had a Hall of Fame career & Levron Williams (IU Football) who really knew how to put on a show in college.