Earlier today we learned Syracuse will be bringing the uniform No. 44 out of retirement this season. The uniform number will be awarded to a player on the Syracuse football team by a special committee, and odds are former Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb is not going to be included in that committee.
McNabb, the former franchise quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles and now an analyst for “FOX Sports Live,” took to his Twitter account to rip off a series of comments and reaction to his alma mater bringing the uniform out of retirement.
“It bothers me to see the decision being made by my alma mater to u retire the legendary 44,” McNabb said to his Twitter followers. “The great RBs who wore the number put SU on the map. What message are we sending across college football and to the football world that it’s ok to unretire such history that was so strong that a movie was made about one of our great RBs in Ernie Davis. No one should be rewarded in wearing that number. Do [you] see other schools taking numbers down from the [rafters] for any reason at all. I think it is totally disrespectful to those who have worn it and for those who wore the mighty Blue and Orange. It was retired in [2005] for a reason. Which it should have been done along time before then.”
OK then. Glad we got that on the record.
What Syracuse is doing is finding another way to honor the legacy of the uniform No. 44. Retiring a number is only one way to do so. Giving the uniform special meaning and recognition is in the same category of awarding a “C” to a captain. By bringing the uniform out of retirement, Syracuse is allowing the legacy to live on within the program, perhaps one day adding another name to the list of great college football players to wear the No. 44.
Which side of this topic do you fall on? Do you agree with McNabb, or do you think he is out of line?