Anyone who buys an athlete’s jersey (you’re allowed; don’t let any “If you’re over X age” nonsense make you feel otherwise), has lots to consider. Favorite team, favorite player, home/away/third, etc.
Yet the biggest thing to consider if you want any sort of bang for your buck is the safety of a jersey, or ability to wear it for the long haul without it looking weird. Guys leave in free agency, get traded or otherwise fall from relevance. Retiring’s fine, especially if it’s with the local team, but there’s nothing dicier than getting a pretty good player’s jersey when you aren’t sure what’s ahead of them. The Ellis Hobbs III jersey I customized the day he was drafted, for example, proved to be what the kids call “a bad look.”
“Safest” doesn’t mean “best player.” It means safest for the reasons I just outlined. Here are the 25 safest Boston sports jerseys right now among active players.