Tom Wort To Wear No. 12 Against Tulsa

<p style="text-align: left;">OU linebacker Tom Wort will wear No. 12 to honor Austin Box in the Sooners first game against Tulsa.

Friday, September 2nd 2011, 11:15 am

By: News 9

News9.com

NORMAN, Oklahoma – University of Oklahoma linebacker Tom Wort will wear jersey No. 12 Saturday against the University of Tulsa to honor his late friend and teammate Austin Box.

Head coach Bob Stoops made the announcement Friday, and says that the No. 12 jersey will rotate among defensive players during the season.

Box, also a linebacker, wore No. 12 for the Sooners before his sudden and tragic death in May.

Wort, a sophomore, normally wears No. 21. He is starting in the same position that Box played for the Sooners, middle linebacker.

"Such an honor to wear my friend and mentors jersey. Crowd better get rowdy when #12 leads the team out!," said Wort on his Twitter account on Friday.

Earlier this week, Coach Stoops explained that quarterback Landry Jones, who wears No. 12 on offense, and linebacker Travis Lewis will play a significant role in the weekly selection process of who will wear the No. 12 jersey each game.

The Sooners open the season Saturday at 7 p.m. against the University of Tulsa and the game will be televised on FX.