So if Sean Tucker

[Louie and Bouie]

One idea I haven't seen is rotating the number in season and have the players vote on who wears it. Home games only.

That way you speak to the legacy but the weight of wearing the number is taken off of the player. Its an honorary number and not permanent thus keeping the legacy in place.

Would be cool at each home game to see who got the nod that week.

The only problem would be that certain positions may be precluded based upon number restrictions by position.

 

[sufandu]

The weirdest thing about that perspective is that it reads as if he or any other person who would have the opportunity to wear it would basically be forced to wear it against their will - no one has ever been forced to wear the 44 and it's actually been turned down by both active players and recruits. And that's documented and on record unlike most of these anecdotal H0T Takes we're seeing here.

View attachment 205373

I thought I read something that included an interview with a player that said initially 44 was nothing special. At first it was simply issued to whoever the starting HB was. It only became famous because three legends happened to wear it so close to one another.

 

[sufandu]

One idea I haven't seen is rotating the number in season and have the players vote on who wears it. Home games only.

That way you speak to the legacy but the weight of wearing the number is taken off of the player. Its an honorary number and not permanent thus keeping the legacy in place.

Would be cool at each home game to see who got the nod that week.

The only problem would be that certain positions may be precluded based upon number restrictions by position.

That would certainly tarnish the legacy. It would feel like a participation trophy.

 

[baggerbob]

I just can't get over the manner in which it was retired (in case you couldn't tell). Just never felt real to me, even though Jim Brown and Floyd Little participated.

No kid should be pressured into it, but from that Elmore interview, sounds like it's been a bit of a topic of discussion.

I think if the team supports it, and the kid wants it (seems like we could see more of this in the NIL era), then I'm all for it.

If we want to go back to try to make it a recruiting tool, then I'm all for that too.

We have so few traditions. We had one really cool one that the whole fanbase knew, and we let some dude from California come in and retire it to try to sell some more tickets because his disastrous coaching hire was destroying everything.

(I'll stop now... maybe).

Basically the number should come down, and 3 jersey's should go up Brown, Davis, Little in a ceremony, with Jim, Little's widow, and family members of Davis. The game to do it should be Clemson.
That would be a great tribute to our 3 great players.

 

[rhcuse]

Un-retire 44 on Floyd’s day as a tribute.

Smooth it over with Jim Brown, or don’t.

HC and AD decide who can wear it.

Can only wear in 3rd and/or 4th year as long as NFL has 3-years removed rule. (Satisfies the “earn it” crowd, but keeps it alive as a recruiting tool, upperclassmen only).

Make 44 more visible in SU FB branding. Make it into a verb... a symbol of character, pride and determination. We don’t hold up 4’s for he 4th quarter, we hold up 44s all game long. It’s our war eagle / tomahawk chop / hook ‘em horns.



Oh, and screw millennials if they don’t care.

 

[sufandu]

Un-retire 44 on Floyd’s day as a tribute.

Smooth it over with Jim Brown, or don’t.

HC and AD decide who can wear it.

Can only wear in 3rd and/or 4th year as long as NFL has 3-years removed rule. (Satisfies the “earn it” crowd, but keeps it alive as a recruiting tool, upperclassmen only).

Make 44 more visible in SU FB branding. Make it into a verb... a symbol of character, pride and determination. We don’t hold up 4’s for he 4th quarter, we hold up 44s all game long. It’s our war eagle / tomahawk chop / hook ‘em horns.



Oh, and screw millennials if they don’t care.

I like a lot of it. I would change one thing. If a guy is a stud as a freshman, he can wear it as a sophomore. No reason to make an Adrian Petersonesque player wait.

 

[OrangePA]

Depends on what the company's demographics are. Fans who remember the MacPherson days, sure. On the other hand, I was 12 the last time someone wore 44 and frankly couldn't care less.

That you don’t care is a shame

 

[SWC75]

That you don’t care is a shame

If you don't care than you won't mind letting those who do go through with it.

 

[Cusefan69]

This thread is like the old Miller light commercials...Great taste! No, less filling! No great taste!(unretire 44)...No, less filling!(no one cares)...No great taste (your an orange homer if you say 1 positive thing about Syracuse)...No, less filling!(your not a fan if you don't live in Syracuse).
Ahhhh... good times!

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Pyle]

Honestly Jim Brown is kind of an arse. He may be the greatest football player of all time, but he hits women, told the Cleveland Browns to essentially knock it off and stand up when they were kneeling in protest, is on record saying he would never sign Kaepernick. And if you look at his rap sheet he wouldn't have even been an NFL running back in modern times. No team would sign him today, ala Ray Rice. SU can do whatever the hell it wants with 44. Little's opinion means alot more to me than Brown's. I've been on record supporting 44's retirement. I was stupid. Bring it back.

 

[Cuse#1]

Kinda crazy because RB By far is our deepest position especially wit was the 2 guys coming back , so that's a lot of guys that wanna get on the field I wonder how hes gonna work that out.. Sean Tucker last year was a beast and if he plays like that this season I think he should be the starter obviously But kind of interesting to see how old how all the carries will be divided, if at all.

 

[Rautins07]

If he goes off for 1500 and 15, why not make #34 the new #44 for recruits!

 

[sufandu]

If he goes off for 1500 and 15, why not make #34 the new #44 for recruits!

Because the GOAT, a heisman trophy winner, and a 3 time all american didn't wear it across an 13 year span.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

The old 44 tradition is dead. I think we should start a new 44 tradition. The players vote on who wears it each game. It would almost be like a captain's C. It would be an honor but only last one game so it wouldn't put any pressure on a kid. It also allows kids to keep their number all other games which is important to them. It would be fun to try and guess who will it be this week?

So you could have TD wear it one game, Tucker another game, Taj, Queeley, Elmore, McKinley, Kingsley Jonathan, Mikel Jones, Garrett Williams, Ja'Had Carter.

I would also petition to have OL eligible to wear it. CFB rules are more lax than the NFL so we might be able to use it in a one off. It isn't like we are using trickery.

 

[sufandu]

The old 44 tradition is dead. I think we should start a new 44 tradition. The players vote on who wears it each game. It would almost be like a captain's C. It would be an honor but only last one game so it wouldn't put any pressure on a kid. It also allows kids to keep their number all other games which is important to them. It would be fun to try and guess who will it be this week?

So you could have TD wear it one game, Tucker another game, Taj, Queeley, Elmore, McKinley, Kingsley Jonathan, Mikel Jones, Garrett Williams, Ja'Had Carter.

I would also petition to have OL eligible to wear it. CFB rules are more lax than the NFL so we might be able to use it in a one off. It isn't like we are using trickery.

The old tradition is easily revived with the right decision making. Passing it around like that would ensure it's dead.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

The old tradition is easily revived with the right decision making. Passing it around like that would ensure it's dead.

But it wasn't in the 80s so why would it be now? The tradition is really Brown, Davis, Little. Then the number wasn't used for years. When it came back no one lived up to the number. So why would it work now? The number is important to our history, but we haven't had a real 44 in over 50 years. Had Csonka, Morris, and Reyes worn it then I would 110% be for keeping it exclusively to RBs.

 

[sufandu]

But it wasn't in the 80s so why would it be now? The tradition is really Brown, Davis, Little. Then the number wasn't used for years. When it came back no one lived up to the number. So why would it work now? The number is important to our history, but we haven't had a real 44 in over 50 years. Had Csonka, Morris, and Reyes worn it then I would 110% be for keeping it exclusively to RBs.

Owens was a 1000 yard back. Konrad was a long time NFL player after being a really good college player even without the numbers. Doing what others have suggested by giving it to an interested RB that has proven himself rather than annointing a recruit would respect the tradition and carry it forward. I don't think a guy has to be a Brown, Davis, or Little to keep the legacy alive, but they do have to be really good and be interested in wearing it. It doesn't have to be every year. If it happened every now and then, it would keep it special. It may even evolve into something guys craved and worked for, kinda like #1 was for WR's at Michigan, only bigger because our RBs that established it were more iconic.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Owens was a 1000 yard back. Konrad was a long time NFL player after being a really good college player even without the numbers. Doing what others have suggested by giving it to an interested RB that has proven himself rather than annointing a recruit would respect the tradition and carry it forward. I don't think a guy has to be a Brown, Davis, or Little to keep the legacy alive, but they do have to be really good and be interested in wearing it. It doesn't have to be every year. If it happened every now and then, it would keep it special. It may even evolve into something guys craved and worked for, kinda like #1 was for WR's at Michigan, only bigger because our RBs that established it were more iconic.

Konrad was a fullback should he even have worn it? He was a great talent but his college stats did not fit the number 44. Owens was talented but production wise he did not live up to the number.

The number has history in BBall too. Why limit it to RBs when we have had only 3 worthy 44s and none in the last 50 years? If kids don't live up to it then it just dilutes the number. Look at our top RBs all time or top single seasons. None of those guys wore 44. Had they worn the number it would still have meaning (Morris, Reyes, Csonka, Mungro, Walker, Dee Brown, Rhodes. Nance, plus the guys here while the number was retired DC3, Jerome Smith, PTG, Brinkley, Neal). If our top RBs are choosing not to wear it, how does that keep the tradition going?

 

[sufandu]

Konrad was a fullback should he even have worn it? He was a great talent but his college stats did not fit the number 44. Owens was talented but production wise he did not live up to the number.

The number has history in BBall too. Why limit it to RBs when we have had only 3 worthy 44s and none in the last 50 years? If kids don't live up to it then it just dilutes the number. Look at our top RBs all time or top single seasons. None of those guys wore 44. Had they worn the number it would still have meaning (Morris, Reyes, Csonka, Mungro, Walker, Dee Brown, Rhodes. Nance, plus the guys here while the number was retired DC3, Jerome Smith, PTG, Brinkley, Neal). If our top RBs are choosing not to wear it, how does that keep the tradition going?

Konrad was the only FB to wear it but not the only one it was offered to. Csonka was a FB too.

If by "live up to it" you mean have careers like the first 3, you're right. Probably only Joe Morris can claim to live up to that. If you want to go by numbers, there have been lesser backs that surpassed even the icon's numbers. Konrad was a great RB in an era when FBs were not featured. His numbers were great considering the way he was used. He averaged over 5 ypc over his career on mostly FB dives off the triple option. I always thought he was misused but that's another discussion. Without great numbers he was still a 2nd round pick at a time when the NFL was essentially phasing out FBs.

As I said before, I don't think a guy has to be on the level of the three legends to respect and carry on the legacy. He does have to be really good and has to want it. Passing it from player to player, however, dilutes it. It would feel like how every team now holds up 4 fingers to say they own the 4th quarter. It's essentially meaningless.

Edit: You mentioned a lot of guys that chose not to wear it. Your list is not accurate. It was only offered to a few of those guys. I believe people have said it was only offered to Csonka, Rhodes, Reyes, and Morris. We don't know it others would have accepted it.

 

[baggerbob]

Owens was a 1000 yard back. Konrad was a long time NFL player after being a really good college player even without the numbers. Doing what others have suggested by giving it to an interested RB that has proven himself rather than annointing a recruit would respect the tradition and carry it forward. I don't think a guy has to be a Brown, Davis, or Little to keep the legacy alive, but they do have to be really good and be interested in wearing it. It doesn't have to be every year. If it happened every now and then, it would keep it special. It may even evolve into something guys craved and worked for, kinda like #1 was for WR's at Michigan, only bigger because our RBs that established it were more iconic.

Konrad made those teams with his ability to block ,run, and catch the ball. He should have been featured more.

 

[orangeinohio]

Elmore’s a good guy.
Not just about the 44 but because he represents everything about his Syracuse experience with class.

 

[syrBossHogg]

Tucker on pace for 2,100 rushing yards

 

[GoSU96]

Konrad made those teams with his ability to block ,run, and catch the ball. He should have been featured more.

You do realize he had significant injuries his last three years that limited how much he could be featured , right?

 

[GoSU96]

Kid is really, really, really good.