Per a May 4, 2010 article in the St Louis Post-Dispatch, "they" didn't ask Pace if Saffold could wear 76. Saffold asked Pace himself.

Below is an excerpt taken from that article:

He chose Pace's number, which his father, Roger Saffold Jr., also wore in high school and at Iowa, where he played in the mid-1970s.

To show his respect, Saffold called Pace to ask his blessing to wear his old number. He left a message on Pace's voice mail and said he intends to call him again if he doesn't hear from him.

"I appreciate the Rams letting me have that number and I appreciate Orlando letting me have it as a tribute to him," Saffold said. "I'm going to call him again and tell him thank you for letting me have that. I pretty much know he's the lineman God around here."

And what if Pace doesn't want him to wear it?

"I guess 75 is available," Saffold said and laughed.

[www.stltoday.com]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ST. LOUIS — Rookie offensive lineman Rodger Saffold tried calling Orlando Pace to get his blessing before donning No. 76 for the St. Louis Rams.
“Just out of respect,” Saffold said. “He’s still doing his thing, so I wanted to make sure he didn’t mind going ahead and using his jersey.”
Saffold left a voice mail message for Pace, and he plans on trying to call him two or three more times.
Saffold, the Rams’ second-round pick in the 2010 NFL draft, grew up idolizing Pace, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection for the Rams.
Saffold comes from Bedford, Ohio. Pace comes from Sandusky, Ohio, and played for Ohio State.
“I’ve been 76 since I was in the seventh grade,” Saffold said. “It was definitely important to me to try to ask the person I have been wearing it for.”

[hoosierstateofmind.com]

---