My email to the chancellor...I suggest you all take the chance to write him a letter to.
Hello Chancellor - First and foremost, I know you are an extremely busy man and I hope that you can find a few minutes in your day to read over my email. I feel that you are without a doubt the right man for the job at Syracuse. I did not personally go to Syracuse, but my father grew up in Syracuse on Euclid Ave and also graduated from Syracuse. As a child I spent many summers in Syracuse playing. I grew up to stories about the significance of 44, and how much of an impact the trio of greats who wore the number had on the city of Syracuse. I know that at its core, it exemplifies honor, strength, courage and tenacity.
It truly was a mistake by our former AD to retire the number. This is not some random number that belongs up in the rafters. This number IS Syracuse University Football. It is the defining trait of Syracuse football. They could have named The Express, "The Legend of 44" and it would have changed nothing about that movie. By moving 44 from an available number to a retired one is a big mistake. This should be available for the correct player, whether they live up to the standards set by 44 is beyond our control. But the number should be available. Right now it isn't and that might cause us to miss out on a human being who, from all reports, is as good of a person as he is a football player.
The movie, The Express, has rekindled the understanding of this number for today's youth. Younger kids who normally wouldn't know about the history and lore, now do. For example, there is an outstanding young man who is a consensus top 5 RB in the nation, and he is heavily interested in Syracuse. He is well aware of the lore, history and burden of being #44, and he wants to tackle that and restore the glory and pride of our great school and football team. This is exactly the type of kid we need to bring in. Success begets success. Mr. Robert Washington has gone on record several times stating that he is well aware of the history,prestige and responsibility that comes with wearing #44 and he wants to wear the number, and it would actually give SU an extreme advantage in his recruitment. There are also several other high profile 4 and 5 star players who want to play with Mr. Washington. He would be the first domino to fall that would bring in more high profile players, the likes we haven't brought in to Syracuse since the Donovan McNabb era.
Giving this kid #44 could be the springboard to bringing us back into the national spotlight. If we bring in a top 25 recruiting class while giving the headliner of the class #44, this would give us stories on ESPN, Bleacher Report, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo and every other sports site out there. It would create a buzz among the casual fans. We might return to the top 25, which means we would start having sellouts again. Attendance would increase, concessions would increase, income would increase. We would return to national relevance, and all of this is possible by restoring #44 and offering it to this humble kid who, from everything I have read, deserves this number.
If that is the case, this is a no brainer decision. Please do the right thing and restore#44. I know you have the power to do so. Robert makes his college decision on April 25th. He is choosing from amongst Ohio State, Alabama, TCU, Michigan, North Carolina, and Syracuse. He has publicly stated that if offered #44 he would essentially choose Syracuse. This needs to happen. He has the grades to attend Stanford or Duke. He cares about our academics. He is a top 5 RB. He is the true definition of a student-athlete. He is humble, caring and down to earth. All you have to do is read interviews people have done with him and they all come away raving about how mature Robert is. He is the type of player who would become a team captain. That is the type of person who should be wearing #44. If we miss out on this individual because we sat on our hands over this topic it will be very sad indeed. There hasn't been a recruit this important in a very very very long time.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my email.
