Donovan McNabb rips ‘Cuse for unretiring No. 44 jersey

Former Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb isn’t pleased with the school choosing to unretire number 44.

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On Tuesday, Syracuse announced that they were going to take the number 44 jersey out of retirement and is now eligible to be worn by any current players, according to a story by For The Win. The jersey was retired in 2005 and has been worn by a number of legendary players, including Ernie Davis, James Brown and Floyd Little. Syracuse offered the reasoning that allowing the number to be worn again would restore tradition and further honor the players that previously wore it. According to the interim athletic director, a committee will decide what player gets to wear the number.

Committee or not, former Syracuse quarterback, now retired from the NFL, Donovan McNabb doesn’t like the decision at all. His own number five jersey was retired in 2013 in a game between Syracuse and Wake Forest. McNabb took to Twitter on Tuesday to have some words about the decision by his former school.

It bothers me to see the decision being made by my alma mater to u retire the legendary 44. The great RBs who wore the number put SU on the
— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) May 20, 2015

Map. What message are we sending across college football and to the football world that it's ok to un retire such history that was so strong
— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) May 20, 2015

That a movie was made about one of our great RBs in Ernie Davis. No one should be rewarded in wearing that number. Do u see other schools
— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) May 20, 2015

Taking numbers down from the raffters for any reason at all. I think it is totally disrespectful to those who have worn it and for those who
— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) May 20, 2015

Who wore the mighty Blue and Orange. It was retired in 05 for a reason. Which it should have been done along time before then.
— Donovan McNabb (@donovanjmcnabb) May 20, 2015

McNabb definitely has some room to speak, since he saw his own number retired and it can’t sit well with him that legends bigger than himself are having their numbers un-retired. He’s also correct that it’s a pretty unusual move. Not only do NCAA teams rarely do it, but neither do NFL teams. One recent exception is Michigan returning a bunch of retired numbers to the field and calling it the “Legends Program.” Of course, the program has been halted due to the school’s continuing attempts to walk back several things from the Dave Brandon era.

However, in spite of that, Michigan fans were largely fine with the idea and even enthusiastic about it. The problem with McNabb’s opinion though, even if it’s somewhat warranted, is that the number 44 jersey wasn’t just worn by one legendary player and further, the players involved apparently approve of the reinstatement. Not only that, but some fans are comparing the number to other “living” traditions at other schools, such as the 12th Man at Texas A&M.

Floyd Little: "It's something that I never thought was retired." Said his grandson was promised to wear it in eight years.
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) May 19, 2015

As with everything though, there’s another side of fans who don’t like it, some of whom McNabb decided to retweet on his account.

@donovanjmcnabb I couldn't agree with you more. Those who don't get it, never will.They don't know what respect is to start with. #retire44
— Alisa Durney (@JukeJointJunkie) May 20, 2015

So it really depends on how you look at it. Is it disrespectful to the legendary players who wore it? Or is it a sort of living legend tradition at the school that deserves to live on?

The last player to wear number 44 was Rob Konrad in 1998. A total of 25 players at Syracuse have worn the number 44.