You don't retire #57 without retiring #8, or #51, or #26, #77, #46, #19, #56, and #7.

You hang a banner from the rafters with the name and number and years he played on it, and it says the same exact thing, This Is How It's Done. It's actually better recognition for the player because people SEE it, it's a permanent visual reminder, every game, instead of them sitting there watching the games and not really noticing or thinking about it, that there isn't a particular number ever on the field. I mean, I don't sit around thinking about #17 as being Billy Kilmer, it's Meachem. Or was. I don't care who else had it and what they did. And then it will belong to someone else eventually, after that.



I mean a banner, or the thing like some teams do with the names around the edge of the stadium, if you're that player you can go the games as an old man and freaking point at it, show it to your kids and say, "that was me," and feel pride, it really means something, the NAME lives on, the man lives on. A retired number is only good for, people who already know it's retired, which in these days is just a handful of misty-eyed nostalgic fans who are the only ones who give a crap about it.

The BANNER is the way to go with this. Trust me.

Joe Boudreaux, or Hawthorne, of whoever, should not be wearing Ricky's number. Unless he's Lawrence Taylor. (on the field) Someone on the team should tell him and help him understand. I can understand totally, if he doesnt understand now, but someone on the team should gather some video, memorabilia, etc, and explain it. I'll bet he'd get it.