Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux Donates $50K to Charity as Part of No. 5 Jersey Swap

AP Photo/Noah K. Murray

New York Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux is now the bearer of the No. 5 jersey previously worn by kicker Graham Gano, and he donated a lot of money to charity to get the veteran to give up that number. 

Thibodeaux, who wore No. 5 in college at Oregon, donated $50,000 to Puppies Behind Bars, which “trains incarcerated individuals to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, as well as explosive-detection canines for law enforcement,” to snag the number from Gano.

Gano, who comes from a military family, explained his decision to have Thibodeaux make a donation for the number (via the team’s website):

“I feel like it was where the money that Kayvon was donating would be able to make the largest impact and help the most people throughout him giving that money. The whole idea behind the number five being special to myself and being special to Kayvon was being able to help five people get the five dogs and be able to make an impact in five people’s lives for the better. That was the whole goal behind that. I’m really excited about it.”