Why is Sammy Baugh's #33 the only "Officially" retired number?

[REDSKINS4ever]

I've always had a problem with this. Before Jeff George was signed by the Redskins in 2000, no player had worn #3 since 1986. Also, since Theismann went down with an career ending injury in 1985, nobody has worn #7. Sonny Jurgensen was the last player to sport #9. With Darrell Green in the HOF, no one has worn #28 in ten years. Let's not forget about #42, #43, and #44 respectively. Two of those three players are in the HOF. Bobby Mitchell's #49 had been unretired during a preseason game during the unfruitful Steve Spurrier era and he said it alienated him. Leonard Marshall wore Sam Huff's #70 during the early 2000s. Many players have also worn Ken Houston's #27 over the years and Houston is a Hall Of Famer. And let's not forget about #65. No one has worn that number since Dave Butz hung up his scarred up Redskins helmet. Lastly, nobody has worn #81 since Art Monk left for the Jets in 1994. And no one will wear #21 for a long time.

What is the point in mentioning this? My point is shouldn't other jersey numbers besides Sammy Baugh's be worthy of "official" retirement?

[los panda]

good question.

what about jason campbell having to ask doug williams for permission to wear #17

[DynamiteRave]

I've been waiting for them to retire 21.

[TheSmurfs22]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

I've been waiting for them to retire 21.

~~~~~
Me too.

[REDSKINS4ever]

I have a feeling that #21 will be sported in the faraway future when Sean Taylor is totally forgotten about. It seemed that #21 would have been retired after the 2007 season, before or after the 2008 season, or better yet when Taylor officially was named one of the 80 greatest Redskins.

I don't like it that #33 is the only retired number.

[mooby]

It just is, son. I'm not concerned about it, there are multiple numbers out there that Redskins players know they'll never get their hands on.

[BleedBurgundy]

Don't worry, #10 will be retired in about 20 years.

[REDSKINS4ever]

Originally Posted by mooby

It just is, son. I'm not concerned about it, there are multiple numbers out there that Redskins players know they'll never get their hands on.

Probably so. Being as though the Redskins are a storied franchise with countless former players in the Pro Football Hall Of fame, it just seems like more than one jersey in the team's 80 year history would be officially retired. Some former Redskins players who never came close to going to the HOF have jerseys that are forbidden for another newer generations of players to wear. So are considered Redskins legends and others Redskin greats.

[NC_Skins]

Originally Posted by DynamiteRave

I've been waiting for them to retire 21.

Absolutely not. His career doesn't even remotely warrant retiring his jersey. I like Taylor as much as the next person but people have put him into this class that he simply isn't. It's the same reason why Terrell Davis will never see the Hall of Fame. Accidents happen and it's unfortunate, but there isn't a reason to retire his number. I'm fine with the Ring of Honor and that's where it should stop at.

[Lotus]

When will we retire Dallas Sartz's number?

[firstdown]

I think the Redskins use the Ring Of Fame to honor its players instead of retiring the jersey.

[jdlea]

I have 2 schools of thought on this.

On the one hand, I don't know that retiring numbers in the NFL is really all that feasible. I mean, with the number restrictions and such, it makes it slightly more difficult. Receivers, for a long period of time, were only allowed to wear numbers in the 80's, that changed, in my lifetime, but it would have been incredibly restrictive to retire numbers in the 80's when you consider you're probably going to have 8 guys (3 TE's and 5 WR's) on your team who would choose a number in the 80s. While the situation is a little different for Defensive backs, offensive linemen and such, it's still not all that feasible to retire the numbers of great players.

That leads me into my next thought. I kind of like the way Dallas approached thenumber 88. I like that handing Dez Bryant number 88 was essentially saying, "This is what we expect of you." The Pats did the same thing with Dont'a Hightower this year when they gave him Tedy Bruschi's #54. Supposedly that was symbolic in the same way that the 88 to Dez was; the issue with that is that they are apparently just going to forget that they also gave it to Brian Waters in between the time Bruschi retired and Hightower was drafted.

[MTK]

It's not like the Skins haven't honored their "greats". There's the ring of honor and their numbers are taken out of rotation unless they grant permission for someone to wear them. Baugh is truly one of the all time greats in league history. I kinda like that he's the only one that's officially retired.

[InsanePianist]

Originally Posted by NC_Skins

Absolutely not. His career doesn't even remotely warrant retiring his jersey. I like Taylor as much as the next person but people have put him into this class that he simply isn't. It's the same reason why Terrell Davis will never see the Hall of Fame. Accidents happen and it's unfortunate, but there isn't a reason to retire his number. I'm fine with the Ring of Honor and that's where it should stop at.

Completely agree. His number shouldn't be retired, but I like that they've waited a while.

28 will probably be the next officially retired #.

[rypper11]

I like the way the Skins handle it. It's impossible to honor guys with retiring their numbers in the NFL until/unless 3 digits are incorporated and the numbering system changes. Thus, a rookie safety in 2014 could have number 128. However, if Revis comes to the team via FA next year and really wants 28, have Green symbolically hand it over. Same if Morris wants 44 after his breakout rookie season (which I think would be awesome because he reminds me of Riggo anyway!). When you have a team with 80 years of players and 53 currently need numbers it's impossible to retire numbers.
That being said, Baugh is and always will be the greatest Skin. Though we currently have a Texan QB who is changing the position.