Floyd Little wants 44 back link now working

[Orangeyes]

I posted it early this morning and the link wasn't working, it is now.

To save you the trouble here it is again

Floyd Little wants the No. 44 back on the field for Syracuse in the ...

 

[44PRIDE]

...and it should be given to Jerome Smith

 

[weakstraw]

I believe it is Jerome's to lose.

 

[sufandu]

...and it should be given to Jerome Smith

I disagree. I like Smith. I think he's been a hard working kid that has improved every year and made himself into a good productive back, but he's not worthy of 44. If we give it out to anyone, he has to be special. He has to be the type of player that makes you hold your breath whenever he touches the ball because something great could happen. The kind of kid that causes you to shake your head after he makes something happen when you were sure he was bottled up with nowhere to go. Think about how you felt when McNabb would make a LB or DE whiff on a pass rush, roll out toward the sideline, and then complete a bomb 50 yards down field. It was that feeling of, "Did I just see that? How'd he pull that off?" The next kid to wear 44 has to have that kind of magic to him. That's how we honor it's place in Syracuse tradition.

 

[44PRIDE]

I tend to think he brings exactly the "magic" we would want as a #44 running back.

This young man has done everything right. He is a model player that is coming off a special 2012 season. He was voted by his teammates as a captain in his Junior year. He personifies all the qualities we look for in student athletes. Who better to represent the team and school as the bearer of #44?

I'd rather give it to an upper classman that has earned the right to wear it than to a freshman recruit that showed "magic" in high school.

 

[All4SU]

I tend to think he brings exactly the "magic" we would want as a #44 running back.

This young man has done everything right. He is a model player that is coming off a special 2012 season. He was voted by his teammates as a captain in his Junior year. He personifies all the qualities we look for in student athletes. Who better to represent the team and school as the bearer of #44?

I'd rather give it to an upper classman that has earned the right to wear it than to a freshman recruit that showed "magic" in high school.

And who kept his nose clean.

 

[sufandu]

I tend to think he brings exactly the "magic" we would want as a #44 running back.

This young man has done everything right. He is a model player that is coming off a special 2012 season. He was voted by his teammates as a captain in his Junior year. He personifies all the qualities we look for in student athletes. Who better to represent the team and school as the bearer of #44?

I'd rather give it to an upper classman that has earned the right to wear it than to a freshman recruit that showed "magic" in high school.

I'm not saying give it to an unproven freshman. And I agree he has done all of those things you mentioned. What I'm saying is that his play on the field has not separated him enough to warrant wearing the most storied number in our history. Not once while carrying the ball last year did I go, "Wow, he put a move on that guy, or man he ran that guy over before breaking it for another 20 yards." One of the reasons the tank was developed last year was because of inability to move the ball in goal line situations (that's not just my opinion, the coaches said it). Is that worthy of having a connection to Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, and Floyd Little? Like I said, I like the kid. He's worked hard, made himself into a good player, and represented the university well. However, wearing 44 is not an award for school spirit.

 

[will6786]

funny how floyd was ok with retiring it now he wants it back.. so i say keep it retired

 

[jekelish]

Even the people against unretiring the number would get serious chills if Jerome came out to take the first handoff wearing 44 against Penn State.

 

[orangepassion]

Kind of funny that Little says yes and Herman Frazier (who?) says no.

 

[44PRIDE]

I guess we'll agree to disagree.

I believe #44 is about a player that is a leader on the field, a leader in the locker room and a leader in his community. It's about substance over flash. Its about doing "it" the right way. Jerome has proven himself to be all of that.

In my opinion, if someone like JS hasn't earned the right to wear the number, then you may as well keep it retired.

 

[FAL]

Under-rated, under-recruited kid who steadily improved ever year; a gentleman, a team leader, hard-nosed player who steadily grinds out yardage seemingly everytime he touches the ball; a poster child for SU FB. Yes, give the damn 44 to Rome!

 

[sufandu]

I guess we'll agree to disagree.

I believe #44 is about a player that is a leader on the field, a leader in the locker room and a leader in his community. It's about substance over flash. Its about doing "it" the right way. Jerome has proven himself to be all of that.

In my opinion, if someone like JS hasn't earned the right to wear the number, then you may as well keep it retired.

Yeah, we'll have to agree to disagree. Here is my question? How many players on the roster exhibit the traits you described? Couldn't Gulley wear it too? How about Bromley? Or Macky? We have a lot of guys that do "it" the right way. I believe #44 is about doing "it" the right way with substance supplemented with a little flash. Not for the sake of flash itself, but because it's natural and special. The two don't have to be exclusive to one another. Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, and Floyd Little all had both. If being a very good hard working player who is a good citizen makes you worthy of #44, then we could find 5 players on the roster every year worthy of it. I think it's more special than that.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

I disagree. I like Smith. I think he's been a hard working kid that has improved every year and made himself into a good productive back, but he's not worthy of 44. If we give it out to anyone, he has to be special. He has to be the type of player that makes you hold your breath whenever he touches the ball because something great could happen. The kind of kid that causes you to shake your head after he makes something happen when you were sure he was bottled up with nowhere to go. Think about how you felt when McNabb would make a LB or DE whiff on a pass rush, roll out toward the sideline, and then complete a bomb 50 yards down field. It was that feeling of, "Did I just see that? How'd he pull that off?" The next kid to wear 44 has to have that kind of magic to him. That's how we honor it's place in Syracuse tradition.

Well then we'll rarely if ever give it out.

What RB has Syracuse had on it's roster in the last 30 years that meets your criteria?

Rob Konrad? NO
Michael Owens? NO
Terry Richardson? NO
Walter Reyes? NO
Malcom Thomas? NO
Dee Brown? NO
Delone Carter? NO
James Mungro? NO
Damien Rhodes? NO
Curtis Brinkley? NO
David Walker? NO
Antwon Bailey? NO

So while none of those guys made you "hold your breath whenever he touches the ball," nearly every last one of those guys would have been great candidates for #44 as upperclassmen - After proving their worth as frosh and sophs.

And yes, I realize Konrad, Owens, and Richardson were given #44 as recruits.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Kind of funny that Little says yes and Herman Frazier (who?) says no.

Also, the 3rd admin talks about a special "commitee" which Floyd is supposedly part of, but that he doesn't mention at all? For all the good that this administration does, they are horrible when it comes to pr/marketing/communications. Is it that hard to have 3 people deliver a consensus opinion?

On topic, I'd have no issue with the coaches/team choosing a Senior to wear 44 each year. I honestly wouldn't care if they rotated the jersey among deserving players either. It would be unique and something that would certainly be talked about during each tv broadcast. 44 is SU's football tradition, so it should be embraced in a more active capacity.

 

[SaltineWar]

The more I read about Herman Frazier the more I think he's an idiot.

 

[sufandu]

Well then we'll rarely if ever give it out.

What RB has Syracuse had on it's roster in the last 30 years that meets your criteria?

Rob Konrad? NO
Michael Owens? NO
Terry Richardson? NO
Walter Reyes? NO
Malcom Thomas? NO
Dee Brown? NO
Delone Carter? NO
James Mungro? NO
Damien Rhodes? NO
Curtis Brinkley? NO
David Walker? NO
Antwon Bailey? NO

So while none of those guys made you "hold your breath whenever he touches the ball," nearly every last one of those guys would have been great candidates for #44 as upperclassmen - After proving their worth as frosh and sophs.

And yes, I realize Konrad, Owens, and Richardson were given #44 as recruits.

How do you know who made me hold my breath?

I think Reyes was worthy of it. He has the career touchdown record, is second all time in yards and fourth all time in yards per carry. I think he did give that feeling that he could take it to the house anytime he touched the ball. For his whole career he played against defenses that knew he was getting the ball because we had no legitimate passing threat and he was still one of the most productive running backs in school history and on a regular basis broke tackles at the line of scrimmage to turn a 3 yard carry into a 40 yard carry.

I would have also given it to Delone Carter. He carried the offense his senior year. He had a poor offensive line. He also had a poor passing game that didn't keep defenses honest. He put up numbers better than what JS had last year with everyone knowing he was going to get the ball. Many of his yards came after running through tackles and/or making people miss at the line of scrimmage.

One guy you didn't mention was Joe Morris. It's pretty obvious why he deserved it.

So my list is pretty short, but I didn't set the standard. The best player to ever play the game, our lone Heisman winner, and a three time All-American set the standard.

I'll give maybes to Mungro and Konrad. Konrad's production certainly suggests he shouldn't have worn it. I would have loved to have seen what he could have done from the halfback position with 235-240 lbs and 4.4 speed. If he had been given 20+ carries/game with a lead blocker instead of constantly running the dive off of the triple option he may have put up huge numbers. I believe he suffered from playing for a coaching staff that forced him into the position they wanted him instead of taking full advantage of his physical gifts.

Like I said, I don't dislike JS. He has worked hard and improved consistently, but that describes half the starters if not more. The guy scored 3 touchdowns last year. 3! So he rarely broke a long one (his long was 35 yards for a TD) and wasn't good enough in short yardage to be used on the goal line. Most of his yards came from gaping holes the offensive line gave him and often went down after first contact. Is that a running back worthy of sharing honors with Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, and Floyd Little?

The #44 should be an honor that means you've set yourself apart.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Aren't players superstitious about changing numbers during their Senior years?

 

[mountaincuse]

Even the people against unretiring the number would get serious chills if Jerome came out to take the first handoff wearing 44 against Penn State.

That would be phenomenal.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

How do you know who made me hold my breath?

I have no idea who made you hold your breath.

What I do know is that we haven't had a transcendent RB since Joe Morris - who I left off my initial list because I was trying to keep it to 30 years. Morris played here from '78-'81.

You used Donovan McNabb as your example - That's setting the bar pretty high, no?

Look, I agree that Walter Reyes was a fantastic college RB... I'm still shocked he didn't last in the NFL.

But he was no McNabb.

And Delone Carter - while a great college workhorse - was not magical in any way, shape or form.

Again, not even close to McNabb.

Trust me, I think more than two thirds of the list I provided above would've been worthy of #44 as upperclassmen.

But if we're using McNabb or Little or, gasp, Jim Brown as the measuring stick - it may never get handed out again.

In the last 25 years, we've very few players that approached that level - and none of them were RBs.

Harrison
Rob Moore
Mike Williams (for one magical season at least)
Ismail (based on pure speed alone)

On defense, we've had a few including, but not limited to:
Freeney
Bulluck

 

[Rocco]

It should be given out every year to a player (preferably junior or senior) who exemplifies the qualitities of a well-rounded young man, both on and off the field. First and foremost, he needs to a leader on his team when no one is watching. Needs to show leadership qualities during the following:

• During off-season workouts, he should be at the helm of keeping his teammates responsible
• mandatory workouts - keeping everyone in line
• spring ball
• fall ball
• helping out the new guys get acclimated to college life, but more importantly, be willing to help them through learning curves
• maintaining a strong visual community presence
• a leader in the locker room and huddle
• have a great football head on his shoulders
• be an impact player.

Yes, those are alot of prereq's, but there should be alot of things that you should exemplify. There should be alot on your shoulders when wearing such a storied number of our program. The history and tradition of #44 speaks for itself. If it were ever to be taken out of "retirement", it should not just be "handed out" to the best player on the team. Anyone should be able to get the number who represents this football program proudly at all times. Don't care if it's an RB, QB, WR, OL, DL, CB, etc. How cool would it have been for Rob Long to have worn #44 during the Pinstripe Bowl?

This could really be branded into something special. This could be a great iron in the ever-lasting recruiting fire. This could be something that makes all of the kids work that much harder to be that much better of a person and player. Everyone responds differently to motivational factors, but I think something that could be achieved by ANYONE on the team would have a positive impact overall. The "Legend of 44" could really pack a great story into everything our football team does. This isn't completely related, but think about the kid at Ohio St that gets to "dot the I" in the marching band. That is a huge honor for them to have. This is similar in scope, but the honor of wearing #44 for a season (or 2) is a huge, huge accomplishment.

 

[Upstate]

Even the people against unretiring the number would get serious chills if Jerome came out to take the first handoff wearing 44 against Penn State.

1. I'd kill to see that
2. That'd be an enormous pressure on the young man, but I think he could handle it.
3. Remembering to pack a second pair of underwear for the game would be smart.

 

[sufandu]

After all of the discussion I've changed my mind. I don't want it unretired. It needs to stay in the rafters, so it doesn't become diluted as merely an award for hard work and citizenship.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

It should be given out every year to a player (preferably junior or senior) who exemplifies the qualitities of a well-rounded young man, both on and off the field. First and foremost, he needs to a leader on his team when no one is watching. Needs to show leadership qualities during the following:

• During off-season workouts, he should be at the helm of keeping his teammates responsible
• mandatory workouts - keeping everyone in line
• spring ball
• fall ball
• helping out the new guys get acclimated to college life, but more importantly, be willing to help them through learning curves
• maintaining a strong visual community presence
• a leader in the locker room and huddle
• have a great football head on his shoulders
• be an impact player.

Yes, those are alot of prereq's, but there should be alot of things that you should exemplify. There should be alot on your shoulders when wearing such a storied number of our program. The history and tradition of #44 speaks for itself. If it were ever to be taken out of "retirement", it should not just be "handed out" to the best player on the team. Anyone should be able to get the number who represents this football program proudly at all times. Don't care if it's an RB, QB, WR, OL, DL, CB, etc. How cool would it have been for Rob Long to have worn #44 during the Pinstripe Bowl?

You're describing Macky MacPherson.

But OL's can't wear #44.

 

[TheCusian]

If you're waiting for the next Brown or Davis or Little to wear it - it would never get handed out.

I honestly can't think of many transcendent RBs on any team in any conference that match those guys over the last 10 years...