The Bears say they're getting out of the retired-number game. They'll retire Mike Ditka's 89 this year, and that will be it.
They're stopping at 14 retired numbers. Otherwise they'll eventually run out of numbers. They've got to field a team, right?
I've never understood the retired number deal.
Pele and Maradona are two of the greatest soccer players ever, but when Brazil and Argentina play, they've got guys wearing the No. 10 shirt. It doesn't detract from the legacy of those guys. It doesn't make anyone think of those guys less.
In fact, it's the opposite. It causes those guys to be talked about more. "Oh, look, so-and-so's wearing the No. 10 shirt -- better do something special when you're wearing that number."
In Dallas, they haven't retired No. 88, and that's a good thing. It creates a bond between Drew Pearson and Michael Irvin and Dez Bryant.
If you really feel like a player needs to be honored -- a Jerry Rice or Walter Payton or whoever -- the better model, I think is to just make him a member of your "Ring of Honor" or put a statue outside or whatever. But no need to decree that nobody else will ever wear a number.
^aEUR"Ian Allan