Floyd Little Goes Into Hall As Proud #44, Shame No One Else Ever Will
by Sean Keeley on Aug 9, 2010 12:25 AM EDT
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PrintFloyd Little honored himself, his family, the Broncos and Syracuse when he went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend with the classiest entry of all. His speech was poignant and about way more than the game of football (watch it here). Maybe that's the reason he had to wait so long...so he could have the kind of knowledge and wisdom that only comes with age (or so it seems).
For the past two weeks, Little told people he wasn't going to deliver a speech, he was going to tell a story. He told of an angry kid who overcame teachers who said he couldn't learn, coaches who said he couldn't play. His story — delivered between the speeches of Rice and Smith — gave hope to kids who may otherwise believe life isn't going their way.
Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith gave nice speeches. Floyd Little told a story.
Of course, Little also made some great comments about the number that he carried as highly as the two superstars who wore it before him and how it impacted his selection.
"Maybe it was in God's plan for me to be in at this moment," Little said. "I come in on the 44th Super Bowl, I come in with the 44th president, I come in with my son being 44, (and there were) 44 voters (on the selection committee)."
As A Syracuse fan, you can't help but smile. To anyone else, it's coincidence. For us...we know better.
And yet, as a Syracuse fan, you can't help but be disappointed. Disappointed that the #44 remains retired. That no future Syracuse football player will carry the torch that Jim, Ernie and Floyd created. That there will never be another Hall of Fame speech given by a player who wore #44 for the Syracuse football team.
I don't know where you stand on the whole thing. You certainly know where I stand. While I understand the way that retiring the number "honors" the great trio of African-American RBs that defined it, I don't think that's the honor it really deserves. The right honor would be to bestow that number to the next great RB in the making. Maybe he won't live up to the hype. Odds are against him. But if Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little created the legend of #44 at Syracuse, they didn't do it so that it would remain on the sidelines.
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One of the few moments I was almost ashamed or pissed to be a Syracuse fan was when they decided to retire 44 just because “it’s what people do to honor those who wore it”. At Syracuse, we honored it by seeing the jersey on the field on game day and remembering what great memories that jersey made for us. Did every player who wore it become the next Brown, Little or Davis? Hell no but when they wore it, it was a badge of honor, not some museum relic. 44 was Syracuse and by retiring, it became just another jersey retiring ceremony just let almost everyone else does and pissed in the face of those of us who honored it’s memory everytime we saw it on the field.
Amen Sean
You know how strongly I feel about this. Number 44 was a living, breathing institution. It was our most special football tradition, by far. And now it hangs in the rafters – a relic, a symbol of the past. Now we’re just like every other school that retires the number of a great player. The decision to retire it was – and is – a colossal mistake. I like Dr. Gross overall, but he demonstrated that he had no clue what the number means to Syracuse. Floyd Little understands it, clearly.
The number does not belong to Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, and Floyd Little anymore – they made it great, they established it, and in doing so they made it something greater than themselves. Number 44 belongs to Syracuse, and the only way to keep our best tradition alive is to take that goddamned garbage bag down from the rafters, and slap it on the back of a Syracuse runner. Will he live up to Little, Brown and Davis? Probably not. But #44 belongs on the back of the best that Syracuse has to offer. Tennessee has Rocky Top. Ohio State has dotting the “i” in script Ohio. We have 44. Or at least, we used to.
"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998
By the way
Did anyone see the unbridled love that Emmitt Smith threw Daryl Johnston’s way during his acceptance speech? That was pretty awesome. I’m not a Cowboys fan by any stretch of the imagination, but as a ’Cuse guy it was nice to see Moose get that kind of recognition on that stage.
"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998
Every single RB since Richardson who was offered #44 refused it.
Joe Morris didn’t want it.
Walt Reyes didn’t want it.
Damian Rhodes didn’t want it.
Konrad only asked for it because it was his old HS number. He didn’t know Jim Brown from James Brown.
How can you use the number as a recruiting tool when nobody wants it?
I don't really think it's a recruiting tool
Just a tradition that needs to be kept alive. In my opinion, Walter Reyes, Joe Morris, etc., shouldn’t have been given a choice. “If you’re the star tailback at Syracuse, you wear #44.” They can be made to understand the “why” of it during their time on campus.
"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998
It's our "thing"
Texas A&M has the 12th man.
Clemson has that stupid rock.
Ohio State dots the i.
We have a RB that wears #44.
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
Buy my book "How To Grow An Orange"
by Sean Keeley on Aug 9, 2010 11:44 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Agreed
Don’t hand it out for the sake of it. But when someone does warrant it, it should be available.
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
Buy my book "How To Grow An Orange"
Right
But if the idea of restoring it is to build any momentum, we can’t just talk about during years when our running back just happens to be a candidate. At least, that’s my take on it, but I’m also fairly obsessed with 44.
"(BARF)" - Donovan McNabb, during his game winning drive against Virginia Tech in 1998
I would like to start a petition to retire the wave and unretire the 44. Retiring the 44 at Syracuse was like banning fans from singing Rocky Top at Tennessee games. FTW!
As for those players who did not want to wear the 44, depending on how close the truth was to the scene in The Express (though I have been told this scene was based on truth), Ernie Davis did not want to wear 44 because it was Jim Brown’s number but he was talked into it and became the first African-American to win the Heisman while wearing that jersey. Syracuse running backs wear 44 proudly and that’s part of the excitement seeing who got the jersey and what they did with it (and most fans with common sense never expected anyone to be Jim Brown reincarnated, just wear it and excel to the best of his ability).
Don't count Rob Konrad out!!!
~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
by Kurupt on Aug 9, 2010 4:34 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
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