Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

rhickok1109 wrote:It's worth noting that the NFL actively discourages teams from retiring numbers.

The Chicago Bears had to stop at 14 retired numbers. It's not unusual for their training camp roster program to have guys designated as "71a" and "71b".

rhickok1109 » Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:56 pm
"It's worth noting that the NFL actively discourages teams from retiring numbers."

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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/examining- ... 03482.html

Examining the uniform rules in NFL
By Andrew Lind
September 14, 2014 5:30 PM

"... Having to adjust the rules in the past, the league now discourages teams from retiring jersey numbers to avoid running out of numbers for each position. Few teams actually follow the NFL's suggestion, including the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Washington Redskins.
"...As a team that has always looked to gain a competitive advantage, it's surprising that the Raiders have followed the NFL's advice. Until 1981, when it was banned by the league, several Raiders players used Stickum, an adhesive to help grip the football. In fact, cornerback Lester Hayes lathered the substance on his arms and uniform, intercepting 18 passes as the Raiders went on to win Super Bowl XV. Hayes was also named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year that season, but failed to record more than four interceptions in the subsequent seasons after the NFL implemented "Lester Hayes rule"..."

Teo wrote:One trivia that was asked to me by one longtime friend is: what was the last Seahawks player who wore #12 (he knew that they had retired that number for the fans). I answered (hoping that I'm right) that there was only one player in Seattle history who wore #12, quarterback Sam Adkins, who each season was thought to be the backup to Jim Zorn, only to have been outplayed by Steve Myer and Dave Krieg.

Teo, this is actually one of my biggest pet peeves, locally. Especially in regards to the newer (i.e. bandwagon) so-called "12's".

I'd feel comfortable saying easily less than 1% of all people who either have a 12 "Fan" jersey or call themselves a "12", couldn't name the players who actually wore the #12 for Seattle. Would think if a number was retired for "you" (Seahawks fans), you would at least know the history of the number. Always my go to trivia when anyone is trying to tell me about how huge of a Seahawks fan they are.

Zorn also wore the #12 in a game (pictured below), because his jersey ripped ...

Good job on getting Adkins. The usual answer you get around here (WA): "No player has ever wore #12 for the Seahawks because it's our number!" . . .

Sam's "rookie" card...

I always liked when he was part of the preseason telecasts here.

He seems like a jovial guy and as "part of" could likely add to any telecast. Since I never saw him, I cannot comment about his ability to carry a broadcast. There aren't too many Maddens or Allens or Sterns that could work a game all by their onesies.

ChrisBabcock wrote:Jim Taylor's # retired by the Saints and not the Packers is also kind of weird.

I recall a CBS game in 1969 with the Green Bay Packers. The Packers had a rookie fullback named Perry Williams, who was wearing #31. The camera lingered on Williams for a moment and Frank Gifford, who was still working for CBS, said: "When you play out your option, they don't retire your number."

Some simple additions to the jersey numbering system would create more flexibility - allow WRs to wear 1-9, TEs/H-Bs 20-39 & LBs 60-79.

I don't think that they need to expand the ranges for eligible receivers. Clarification, does H-B refer to halfbacks in your post, and, if so, is it a shortening from 20-49 to 20-39?

H-Back as in the in between hybrid RB/FB/TE role.

Limiting 1-9 to the QB/K/P ties up a chunk of the jersey numbers to what might be only 2 or 3 players, if that.

So, the simpler expanded system would be:-

1-19 > QB/WR/K/P
20-49 > RB/FB/TE/DB
50-79 > OL/LB/DL
80-89 > WR/TE
90-99 > DL/LB

The numbering system was part of the problem with Dick Butkus' #51. He retired after 1973, but the newly implemented numbering meant C's and LB's could only wear 50-59. With the Bears having already retired Bill Hewitt's #56 they only had 9 numbers available, so #51 wound up being used on a regular basis. As a rookie, Jim Morrissey actually apologized for wearing his number, but Butkus didn't particularly care.

Alternatively, expand the number range. Bears could dust off #275.