Imagine that tomorrow, Bud Selig holds a press conference and announces that MLB is unretiring Jackie Robinson’s number. Selig says that because of players like Mariano Rivera and Bruce Sutter, there is a tradition of outstanding players wearing the number 42, and therefore any future players should be allowed to wear it. We’d storm baseball’s offices with pitchforks and torches, right?
That’s exactly what many at Syracuse want to do with the number 44. Worn by Jim Brown, Floyd Little and Ernie Davis, among others, the number was finally retired three years ago. But now there’s a groundswell to open it up again and slap it on the back of any old running back who joins the Orange. The most outrageous part of this is that there isn’t more outrage.
This was the party line in 2005:
“If there was ever a number that needed to be retired it is 44,” said SU Director of Athletics Dr. Daryl Gross in announcing the decision to honor those who have worn it. “If you can’t take 44 off the table, then you’re just never going to retire a jersey.”
Yet this is the talk on campus now:
“A cross spectrum of football fans,” all had the same message: “bring 44 back, it’s so unique to Syracuse, it should never have been retired.”
Josh Lukin, a 2002 graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said he supports bringing back the number.
“We own number 44,” he said, “If the number stays retired and simply adorns the roof of the Carrier Dome, the legacy will be lost.”
Huh? I’m a Yankee fan. Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra were both excellent catchers, and both wore number 8, now retired. Does this mean they should give Jose Molina or and old backstop the number 8? He’s a part of the grand tradition of Yankee catchers, right?
The number 44 is legendary on Syracuse’s campus. It’s now part of the school’s zip code and telephone exchange. So why would they resume giving it out? No offense to Curtis Brinkley and his 4.9 YPC, but it doesn’t honor the past by letting him wear 44. (Brinkley wears 22, which is appropriate because he’s half the player those greats were.)
3:56 pm on January 14th, 2009
As a Syracuse fan, I think this is a stupid idea, especially how the football team's been so lousy lately. Why diminish the great legacy of #44 by putting it on the jersey of player whose team can't even beat Akron at home?
3:59 pm on January 14th, 2009
"Just like MLB has retired Jackie Robinson's 42 for all of baseball, we have retired 44 out of respect for Ernie Davis the FIRST African American to win the Heisman trophy, as well as Jim Brown the greatest football player ever and Floyd Little our only 3 time All American. Out of respect to these men and their accomplishments 44 will remain retired. The 44 number will always be displayed prominently in the Dome so no one ever forgets the legacy. "
-AD Daryl Gross
January 13, 2009.
4:28 pm on January 14th, 2009
Gross shouldn't have retired the number in the first place..just another example of him being clueless.
6:33 pm on January 14th, 2009
Brooks, you couldn't be farther from the truth. True Orange fans know that the legend of 44 is intended to be passed down selectively through time. It is not intended to be "Slapped on the back of any old running back who joins the Orange" as you so arrogantly infer. Learn your facts before spewing such garbage! It might be 4-8 or 12 yrs before a back worthy of the number may have been given the opportunity to fulfill the legacy but we may now never know. Our AD had good intentions but it clearly indicates that he (being new to the position and unaware of the number's tradition) did not truly understand the legacy of 44.
10:47 pm on January 14th, 2009
It's a game people. Get a grip. Better yet, get a life. Even better, get your own life.
11:19 pm on January 14th, 2009
Guess that Ernie Davis movie that came out last year didn't do so well.
3:40 pm on January 15th, 2009
The thing is that if it had been JUST Jim Brown or Ernie Davis that had worn it, I'd have no problems retiring the number, however since so many greats at Cuse have worn it, it's not just attached to one player. Imagine the outrage if Notre Dame tried to retire #3. It'd never fly.
Look the fact is that if you're not a Cuse fan then you can't understand what the number means to us.
5:20 pm on January 15th, 2009
“If you can’t take 44 off the table, then you’re just never going to retire a jersey.”
That’s the point - Syracuse doesn’t retire football jersey numbers. That’s the reason why three greats were able to wear the number.
It’s called tradition and the author of this blog apparently has no sense of what it means to the Syracuse community.
8:47 pm on January 16th, 2009
Team Record
2005 1-10
2006 4-8
2007 2-10
2008 3-9
Lets get that number unretired