INDIANAPOLIS – It’s official: Colts wide receiver Keenan Allen will be wearing a number other than 13 for the first time in his now 14-year career.
For the 34-year-old’s 12-year stint with the Chargers, plus the one year in Chicago, Allen has sported No. 13 as he’s risen to 13th all-time in catches in league-history – with fifth-overall within reach in 2026. But on the day he arrived at training camp, Allen spoke with fellow veteran Laquon Treadwell – the current owner of No. 13 in Indianapolis – and told reporters that day that the pair had agreed to “play it by ear.”
“He’s a vet, too. I definitely don’t want to come in and step on toes,” Allen said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Treadwell would be on the roster much longer. Though the 31-year-old has continued to scratch and claw to keep his NFL career going entering his third season with the Colts, Treadwell had never before been named to the team’s initial 53-man roster. He’s managed to log 12 games since coming to Indianapolis ahead of the 2024 season, but the 2016 first-round pick has been up and down the practice squad close to a half-dozen times. As he fought with fellow roster bubble receivers Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Coleman Owen, Anthony Gould and Deion Burks for the final couple spots – all of them, arguably, with a more defined role and skill they could bring to the team – it wasn’t until Saturday’s preseason finale when Treadwell started the game with the first-team in replacement of a ramping-up Aleec Pierce that his spot in Indianapolis began to feel secure.
And with that came the decision to hold status quo with his number – the eighth of his career and one he wore all last season for the first time. Allen, instead, will sport No. 10.
“Me and Keenan spoke three times about it already. He’s just like, he’s not really worried about it, and I told him, ‘I respect the game and I know what you did in the number,’” Treadwell said. “But me and my family did a lot of praying about it as well, so he was cool with me keeping the number.”
It’s one Treadwell landed on almost out of happenstance. After joining the Colts’ roster just ahead of training camp in July 2024, the receiver spent that season sporting No. 7. That was, until the offseason, when Indianapolis signed All-Pro cornerback Charvarius Ward early in free agency.
Treadwell’s solution? Adopt No. 17.
Those well-laid plans lasted for a matter of days before Indianapolis signed quarterback Daniel Jones, who then snagged it instead.
“I’ve been switching numbers a lot, but last year, I grew to like No. 13. I was playing well, and my family, we’ve been falling in love with the number seeing me out there in it,” Treadwell said. “I had a great camp (this summer), so I just wanted to hold onto it.”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Colts WR Laquon Treadwell, not Keenan Allen, will wear No. 13 in 2026
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