Look. Football is the one sport where I do not think retiring jersey numbers is a good idea. There are only 100 ordinal numbers to be had from zero to 99 that are available for use. We talk ad nauseam about the importance of making the 53-man roster. Simply put, retiring a number, even for an iconic player, is just not the right call in football as it is in baseball, basketball or hockey. I am not a fan of it.
So when I saw that No. 15 overall pick Jalon Walker will be wearing the same No. 11 jersey he wore for the Georgia Bulldogs for the Atlanta Falcons, that really caught my attention. When you think of No. 11 in Falcons lore, you think of Julio Jones immediately. The future first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Fame spent 10 seasons with the Dirty Birds in his illustrious career. He just hung up the spikes, too.
While the Falcons were always going to protect No. 2 for Matt Ryan over No. 11 for Jones, the guy just retired. I do not know if Jones gave Walker permission to wear No. 11, not that it really matters, but I think this just goes to show just how popular and celebrated of a player Jones is and always will be in Dirty Bird Nation. Then again, this was Walker's number at Georgia and it was available to be had.
Here is how Walker could look in the red and black of the Falcons in the No. 11 jersey on fall Sundays.
The number is not as important as the Falcons inducting Jones into the Ring of Honor immediately.
Jalon Walker to wear the same No. 11 jersey as Julio Jones did before him
To this point, the only other jersey the Falcons have protected from being worn besides No. 2 for Ryan would be No. 10 for their first true franchise quarterback of note in Steve Bartkowski. Though not even close to a Hall of Fame player, Bartkowski was the team's star quarterback in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, the first time the Falcons tasted the playoffs. Tough as nails, he earned his reputation.
Even then, Bartkowski's No. 10 has only been taken out of circulation, not retired. To date, Atlanta has never retired a jersey. The first, and probably the only, one I could think of if Ryan's No. 2. Other great Falcons from yesteryear like Claude Humphrey, Mike Kenn, Tommy Nobis, Deion Sanders, Jessie Tuggle and Roddy White have not been honored in such a way either. Every organization is different.
I do know that the Falcons franchise, the Blank Family and Dirty Bird Nation still hold Jones in incredibly high regard. Could they induct him into the Ring of Honor this year? Last year saw Arthur Blank induct himself first before Ryan was given his due. In time, Jones will get his day in the sun in the closed roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The guy was a pro, through and through. Walker must be.
We should not be making a big deal out of this, but Walker has to wear the No. 11 jersey with honor.