Is Eric Berry's Number Going To Be Retired?

#76
#76
Thump said:
Well, Reggie Bush doesn't look like he is going to meet the qualifications for someone had he played a UT. Him or Tebow would be the two that I would argue might not make a huge NFL impact that were everything to two NC teams each and won a Heisman... That is in the last ten years so I would say it is possible.
Click to expand...

I would make an arguement that Tommy Frazier is best college player I ever saw at least Top 5 no doubt. He didnt sniff NFL.
 
#77
#77
EB is one of the few that made the right decision when he left. You simply can't blame a guy for needing to take care of hie momma and his family.

Especially when you know he would have preferred to stay.
 
#78
#78
Thump said:
Well, Reggie Bush doesn't look like he is going to meet the qualifications for someone had he played a UT. Him or Tebow would be the two that I would argue might not make a huge NFL impact that were everything to two NC teams each and won a Heisman... That is in the last ten years so I would say it is possible.
Click to expand...

He wasn't saying "what if a college player doesn't have a good nfl career." what he said was what if a college all-star were to miss out because they were along the lines of too small to play (i.e. to warrant an NFL team comfortably drafting them).


Perhaps I shouldn't have said "possible" but rather "not sure how likely that scenario is"


However (along the lines I responded to)

Both were first round picks and there was never any doubt either would make a team (hell, bush was almost a #1 overall pick, his size was never an issue to nfl teams;

tebow -who's 6'3'' - wasn't an issue with size either...more a fan-based one on "you can't just plow shoulder first into nfl players every other play" and scouts-based "throwing the ball")


A player at RB being tall/thin hasnt ever been a major concern towards getting drafted (ex/ Reggie bush, Chris brown, Chris Johnson, etc);
 
#79
#79
Brave Volunteer said:
Are you freaking kidding me?? You don't think there would be people who would want the following inducted??

Tee Martin
Heath Shuler
Willie Gault
Condrege Holloway
Carl Pickens
Jason Witten
Will Overstreet
John Henderson
Albert Haynesworth
Deion Grant
Jerod Mayo
Casey Clausen
Robert Meachem

and that's just off the top of my head. I guarantee you the debates would be endless amongst those who make this decision.

Look, I'm not saying these guys weren't amazing athletes and weren't huge contributors to UT's success over the years because they were! I'm saying that you HAVE to have strict criteria, especially for a historically prestigious program as ours, because if you didn't eventually you'd have so many numbers retired you wouldn't have enough to field a team!
Click to expand...
Condredge is the only one from that group that can be in the same sentence. The rest of those guys, while having amazing college careers haven't acted like UT men. Never really hear any of them mention UT or represent the university after college. Maybe Tee until the last few years but we kinda turned him down. My point is that no one carries that T after their college careers like al or eb.
 
#80
#80
volgrad1985 said:
Secondly, the items on the list are too stringent and frankly, will prove to be virtually unattainable by more than one or two players for many years to come..
Click to expand...

That's the whole idea! Number retirement SHOULD be a "virtually unattainable" honor. That's what I've been saying this whole time! You CANNOT make number retirement anything less because if you do, eventually you're going to run low on numbers you can use! To me, number retirement should be like the "Congressional Medal of Honor" for athletics.
 
#81
#81
If a player can make enough of an impact in three seasons Fr, So, JR to accomplish the things listed above then in my opinion we would all be indebted to that player whether he stayed 4 years or not.

They would be all time great Vols and if they continued that excellence on in the NFL and continued to make Tennessee look great then they would deserve to have their number retired, regardless of staying 3 or 4 years.
 
#82
#82
Ericvol2096 said:
If a player can make enough of an impact in three seasons Fr, So, JR to accomplish the things listed above then in my opinion we would all be indebted to that player whether he stayed 4 years or not.

They would be all time great Vols and if they continued that excellence on in the NFL and continued to make Tennessee look great then they would deserve to have their number retired, regardless of staying 3 or 4 years.
Click to expand...

Reasonable.
 
#83
#83
THREE of the following
•Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
•SEC Player of the Year
•First Team All-American
•Heisman Trophy winner
•Winner of either the Sullivan Award, Draddy Award, or SEC Athlete of the Year (all sports)
....AND, THREE of the following:

•Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
•NFL Offensive or Defensive MVP
•FIVE Pro Bowl selections
•Own a major single season or career statistical record


How close is Al Wilson to this?

He was an All-American, but none of the others for college.
He also has FIVE Pro Bowl selections but none of the others.

In my opinion if you can do both of those you deserve it.
 
#84
#84
Brave Volunteer said:
I know it's naive to think this and it will never happen but I personally think the NFL should disallow drafting 3 year college athletes and if an athlete drops out of college after his junior year, the NFL should make them sit out a year before they can enter the draft. I think if you agree to play for a University and accept that free ride for 4-5 years of education, you should be obligated to play all 4 years of your eligibility. The injury factor is ridiculous because an athlete runs just as much (if not more) risk getting hurt their 1st three years in the program as they do their 4th.

The key here is that EDUCATION needs to be the thing that is put at the highest priority. Both the NCAA and the NFL need to work together to promote the maximum number of student athletes who actually finish school and earn their degree. The whole idea that colleges serve as nothing more than football vocational facilities needs to stop!
Click to expand...

OR, here's an add on......the NCAA should approve 4 year scholarships to be extended to 5 if the player is redshirted, greyshirted, or takes a med hardship. The NFL should disallow those players taking said scholarship into the draft. You want to take a year to year, then go in 3, you take the full ride, you are at that school for the full ride.
 
#85
#85
TNGlen said:
OR, here's an add on......the NCAA should approve 4 year scholarships to be extended to 5 if the player is redshirted, greyshirted, or takes a med hardship. The NFL should disallow those players taking said scholarship into the draft. You want to take a year to year, then go in 3, you take the full ride, you are at that school for the full ride.
Click to expand...

That's fair.
 
#86
#86
TrueOrange said:
You won't see a 16 game playoff without a shortening of the regular season (and your numbers are off; as of currently such a format would jump teams up to a 16-17 game schedule for winning teams, not 14-15). But let's not (us) derail the thread debating ideal vs unideal playoff numbers or something as such.
Click to expand...

Assuming a conference championship game, the 17 games would be for two teams, 16 for 4 teams 15 for 8 teams, etc. I agree with you in that we would probably see the ellimination of the conference championship game. I think we have passed the 12 game reg season mark and won't be able to back off of it. The 14-15 number is HIGHLY possible for the top level teams than finish in the top 10 or 12 every year. Sorry, I had already written a diatribe and didn't expound on the 2nd post.
 
#87
#87
Ericvol2096 said:
THREE of the following
•Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
•SEC Player of the Year
•First Team All-American
•Heisman Trophy winner
•Winner of either the Sullivan Award, Draddy Award, or SEC Athlete of the Year (all sports)
....AND, THREE of the following:

•Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
•NFL Offensive or Defensive MVP
•FIVE Pro Bowl selections
•Own a major single season or career statistical record


How close is Al Wilson to this?

He was an All-American, but none of the others for college.
He also has FIVE Pro Bowl selections but none of the others.

In my opinion if you can do both of those you deserve it.
Click to expand...

How close is Leonard Little to this?
 
#88
#88
DeepSpringsVol said:
So if he ends his career with an injury like Inky Johnson. Then cant better his families finances and wont get oppurtunity to put up NFL numbers either so would never get jersey retired anyways. Selfish fans.
Click to expand...

WOW, if he had ended his career like Inky, he would have not made the pros since Inky was a Jr. And that statement makes about as much since as yours. He could have been hurt in HS, he could have been hurt as a freshman, he could have been run over on the strip. Your logic dictates that EVERY player should put their name in the draft as a Jr because they might get hurt as a Sr. Using that logic, a player should just sue the NFL and come out of HS. I am not a selfish fan, he went in 3 years, good for him. My point is, I am in the camp that he DID NOT show allegiance to The UT but to the $$$. Therefore The UT should show him the same respect and give him all the accolades that he deserves, but NO retired number. You show your allegiance to your university by playing that 4th year. You go above and beyond what is required to make your millions. It is the players choice, the same way it is the universities choice of what honors to bestow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#89
#89
TNGlen said:
WOW, if he had ended his career like Inky, he would have not made the pros since Inky was a Jr. And that statement makes about as much since as yours. He could have been hurt in HS, he could have been hurt as a freshman, he could have been run over on the strip. Your logic dictates that EVERY player should put their name in the draft as a Jr because they might get hurt as a Sr. Using that logic, a player should just sue the NFL and come out of HS. I am not a selfish fan, he went in 3 years, good for him. My point is, I am in the camp that he DID NOT show allegiance to The UT but to the $$$. Therefore The UT should show him the same respect and give him all the accolades that he deserves, but NO retired number. You show your allegiance to your university by playing that 4th year. You go above and beyond what is required to make your millions. It is the players choice, the same way it is the universities choice of what honors to bestow.
Click to expand...

Thank you for articulating that much better than I ever could! Summed up my feelings on the matter perfectly!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#90
#90
You guys do realize that the criteria to have a jersey retired at UT is easily googled. Until he satisfies those requirements, or the rules are changed, it is obviously a "no".
 
#91
#91
daj2576 said:
You guys do realize that the criteria to have a jersey retired at UT is easily googled. Until he satisfies those requirements, or the rules are changed, it is obviously a "no".
Click to expand...

He can't no matter how well he does in the NFL. He left UT early and part of the requirement is to play all 4 years of eligibility.
 
#93
#93
One could argue that Berry wasn't even the best to wear the number....
 

Attachments

  • c14ceb07-60c4-49b7-b063-57f40da28eb2.jpg
    c14ceb07-60c4-49b7-b063-57f40da28eb2.jpg
    47.8 KB · Views: 3
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#94
#94
If we retire EB's #14 then we need to retire a lot of numbers. Peyton and Reggie are legends of the sport, not just of Tennessee football. EB is one of my top 3 favorite of all-time but I wouldn't retire it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#96
#96
But he set the record for most int's and int return yard basically in his freshman and sophomore year. And wasn't it like 7 yards away from the NCAA record?
 
#99
#99
brianlsanders said:
No one is being forced to play college ball. If these kids dont wanna get a free 80k dollar education to play they dont have to. The education part is very important considering a very small % of players make it at the next level.
Click to expand...

Actually they are being forced to play college ball, or not all. The NFL won't allow you to play until your class is in it'sjunior year. This is a monopoly introduced for the benefit of college revenue. While I agree that almost every player needs that time to mature physicaly, it still is forcing a player to play college, or sit out and have no chance of playing in the NFL. Compare it to the NBA. The one and done rule is now in affect, but can you justify a system that would have prevented Lebron James from palying in the NBA for 3 years? That is 3 years of earning that he can never get back. Your point about a only a small percentage making it to the NFL is irrelevant in a discussion about people leaving early for the NFL(pretty much selects for a group who do make it don't you think?).
 
New Posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

Advertisement



Back
Top