University of Colorado unretires 3 numbers after requests from recruits

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TrueOrange

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Colorado unretires 3 numbers for football recruits

"Colorado will bring three hallowed football numbers out of retirement in response to the growing requests from recruits.

Byron "Whizzer" White's No. 24, Joe Romig's No. 67 and Bobby Anderson's No. 11 will all be worn again. The families of White, who died in 2002, Romig and Anderson approved the decision to bring back their numbers.

Those three players will still be honored through a patch that will appear on the jerseys, bearing their names and the years they played for Colorado.

"Current players and recruits ask all the time for jersey numbers, and often the retired ones have come up," Colorado athletic director Rick George said Wednesday in a statement. "It should also bring a spotlight back to those three players every time a TV camera shows them head-on or a picture appears in a newspaper or online. The names White, Romig and Anderson will be celebrated all over again."

White had his number retired after his senior season in 1937, when he became the school's first All-American in football. White played professional football, graduated from Yale Law School and was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962. He retired from the bench in 1993.

"It will be an honor to watch No. 24 in action for Colorado again," his family said through his son, Charles.

Romig was an offensive guard and linebacker for Colorado. He had his jersey number retired soon after his senior season in 1961.

"It's absolutely fine that my number comes back into circulation, especially if it helps the program," Romig said. "It's an honor to be remembered."

Anderson played quarterback for Colorado before switching to tailback during the 1969 season. He set 18 single-game, single-season and career records in his three seasons with the Buffaloes. He rushed for 2,729 yards and had more than 5,000 yards of total offense.

"I've had my day in the sun, but I will appreciate and be very proud of how it will continue to be honored," Anderson said.

One number that will remain unavailable is 19 -- at least for a little while. It was worn by tailback Rashaan Salaam, who won the Heisman Trophy following the 1994 season. The number was retired in 2017. He took his own life on Dec. 5, 2016. He was 42.

The No. 19 will remain retired for at least 19 years to honor Salaam."
 
#7
#7
I know its sports and just a diversion, blah blah. But that seems like a really ****** thing to even ask. Yeah this 4* recruit needs #24 to come here... I know your dad was Colorado's first AA and ended up being a Supreme Court Justice, but we need his number otherwise this kid will throw a tantrum and transfer. Please respect our decision.
 
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#8
#8
Not if you get their, or their families', approval.

Either way, this is a prime example of why it's better to not retire numbers at all.
I know its sports and just a diversion, blah blah. But that seems like a really ****** thing to even ask. Yeah this 4* recruit needs #24 to come here... I know your dad was Colorado's first AA and ended up being a Supreme Court Justice, but we need his number otherwise this kid will throw a tantrum and transfer. Please respect our decision.
Both of you are correct. You aren't discrediting those players if their approval was received, but it's also kind of a punk question to even ask.
 
#9
#9
Somewhere in the distant future.. schools will have more than 100 legends. Do we go to 3 digit numbers then? The promises made by one generation are sometimes impossible to keep. My Dad always told me that one of the stipulations from the "Shields Watkins" gift of the UT field was that the Hill would always be visible from the field. It's is just one of those things. It was pretty cool though, back in the day.

1581003868077.png
 
#10
#10
Somewhere in the distant future.. schools will have more than 100 legends. Do we go to 3 digit numbers then? The promises made by one generation are sometimes impossible to keep. My Dad always told me that one of the stipulations from the "Shields Watkins" gift of the UT field was that the Hill would always be visible from the field. It's is just one of those things. It was pretty cool though, back in the day.

View attachment 259693
Eh, I don't know if football hangs around that long. Tennessee has been playing football for 128 years and has retired 8 numbers. In the year 2148, they are on pace to have retired 16. As long as you are retiring the numbers of guys who were truly legendary, that really shouldn't be a problem.

Really cool picture, BTW.
 
#11
#11
Not if you get their, or their families', approval.

Either way, this is a prime example of why it's better to not retire numbers at all.

Then why build statues?

Why not tear down ole Bear Bryant and replace him with Saban? He’s by far better than Bear was so let’s start there.
 
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#12
#12
Somewhere in the distant future.. schools will have more than 100 legends. Do we go to 3 digit numbers then? The promises made by one generation are sometimes impossible to keep. My Dad always told me that one of the stipulations from the "Shields Watkins" gift of the UT field was that the Hill would always be visible from the field. It's is just one of those things. It was pretty cool though, back in the day.

View attachment 259693

Before there was a White out, Black out or Checker Neyland it was the great Beige Out for the Vandy Thanksgiving snow game of ‘47.

Seriously though, that really is a great picture. It’s always cool to see the perspective of how things use to be on campus .
 
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#13
#13
Colorado unretires 3 numbers for football recruits

"Colorado will bring three hallowed football numbers out of retirement in response to the growing requests from recruits.

Byron "Whizzer" White's No. 24, Joe Romig's No. 67 and Bobby Anderson's No. 11 will all be worn again. The families of White, who died in 2002, Romig and Anderson approved the decision to bring back their numbers.

Those three players will still be honored through a patch that will appear on the jerseys, bearing their names and the years they played for Colorado.

"Current players and recruits ask all the time for jersey numbers, and often the retired ones have come up," Colorado athletic director Rick George said Wednesday in a statement. "It should also bring a spotlight back to those three players every time a TV camera shows them head-on or a picture appears in a newspaper or online. The names White, Romig and Anderson will be celebrated all over again."

White had his number retired after his senior season in 1937, when he became the school's first All-American in football. White played professional football, graduated from Yale Law School and was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1962. He retired from the bench in 1993.

"It will be an honor to watch No. 24 in action for Colorado again," his family said through his son, Charles.

Romig was an offensive guard and linebacker for Colorado. He had his jersey number retired soon after his senior season in 1961.

"It's absolutely fine that my number comes back into circulation, especially if it helps the program," Romig said. "It's an honor to be remembered."

Anderson played quarterback for Colorado before switching to tailback during the 1969 season. He set 18 single-game, single-season and career records in his three seasons with the Buffaloes. He rushed for 2,729 yards and had more than 5,000 yards of total offense.

"I've had my day in the sun, but I will appreciate and be very proud of how it will continue to be honored," Anderson said.

One number that will remain unavailable is 19 -- at least for a little while. It was worn by tailback Rashaan Salaam, who won the Heisman Trophy following the 1994 season. The number was retired in 2017. He took his own life on Dec. 5, 2016. He was 42.

The No. 19 will remain retired for at least 19 years to honor Salaam."

If the families are fine with it, then great. I understand keeping 92 sacred at Tennessee but we have retired numbers for four players I can't even name, and the same would go for 80%-90% of Vol fans. If we don't even know who they are, then what good is having their numbers retired?
 
#14
#14
If the families are fine with it, then great. I understand keeping 92 sacred at Tennessee but we have retired numbers for four players I can't even name, and the same would go for 80%-90% of Vol fans. If we don't even know who they are, then what good is having their numbers retired?
Nowling, Klarer, Tucker, and Fuson's numbers were retired because of their service in WWII (all were killed), not for their on-field exploits. Tennessee has only retired 4 numbers all-time purely for on-field greatness, and I'd say most fans of any age at least know who all of them are.

As long as the honor is reserved for players who were truly legendary and not just "good" (i.e., Josh Dobbs was a good player for UT but #11 shouldn't be retired), I'm fine with it.
 
#17
#17
If nobody deserves to be remembered then why have them? It’s that simple.

Who argued that no one deserves to be remembered? I certainly didn't. I'd ask if you maybe replied to the wrong poster, but I don't see anyone in this thread making that argument, so I'm not sure who you could have possibly meant to quote.
 
#19
#19
their names will be on the jerseys for all time. thats honoring them. and honestly I think thats cooler, and more honorable(?) than retiring a number.

They’ve got to meet some pretty strict measures to even be considered so If they do that then why shouldn’t they be honored with both?

It’s not like they just retire numbers for the sake of retiring them.
 
#21
#21
Things like this are kind of the reason I wish we had kept not retiring numbers, unless killed in service like our first 4 were. I’m for honoring athletes all kinds of ways, but retiring numbers can limit a program in the future, and on field achievements can be subjective, records will be broken over and over at some point.
 
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#22
#22
Retiring numbers has always been a silly idea to me. The names are what we honor. Manning wasn't even our most recent QB to wear #16.
 
#23
#23
their names will be on the jerseys for all time. thats honoring them. and honestly I think thats cooler, and more honorable(?) than retiring a number.
Weren't those numbers once thought to be retired for "all time"? 🤔🤔🤔
 
#24
#24
Weren't those numbers once thought to be retired for "all time"? 🤔🤔🤔
To sit in a closet somewhere collecting dust. Now they get to be back out on the field in use, and productive. Less risk of being nixed if you have value. Just think about the commentators seeing those numbers and names and being able to talk about them. Instead of it being a number that literally never comes up to get talked about. How much better for fans who might have that Jersey to see it in use.
 

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