Do the Chiefs have too many retired numbers?

[eazyb81]

In a story about Sammy Baugh's passing, it was noted that his number is the only number retired by the Washington Redskins. This made me wonder how many retired numbers we have, and I was stunned to see we have eight.

<TABLE class=wikitable style="FONT-SIZE: 95%"><TBODY><TR><TH>No.</TH><TH>Player</TH><TH>Position</TH><TH>Tenure</TH></TR><TR><TD>16</TD><TD>Len Dawson</TD><TD>Quarterback</TD><TD>1962—1975</TD></TR><TR><TD>18</TD><TD>Emmitt Thomas</TD><TD>Cornerback</TD><TD>1966—1978</TD></TR><TR><TD>28</TD><TD>Abner Haynes</TD><TD>Running back</TD><TD>1960—1964</TD></TR><TR><TD>33</TD><TD>Stone Johnson</TD><TD>Running back</TD><TD>1963</TD></TR><TR><TD>36</TD><TD>Mack Lee Hill</TD><TD>Running back</TD><TD>1964—1965</TD></TR><TR><TD>63</TD><TD>Willie Lanier</TD><TD>Linebacker</TD><TD>1967—1977</TD></TR><TR><TD>78</TD><TD>Bobby Bell</TD><TD>Linebacker</TD><TD>1963—1974</TD></TR><TR><TD>86</TD><TD>Buck Buchanan</TD><TD>Defensive tackle</TD><TD>1963—1975</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


It seems we went a bit crazy with the retired numbers during the 60's and 70's, and the early deaths of Johnson and Hill played a role in the large total.

To me, it appears that the better franchises/football programs have less retired numbers on a relative basis. For instance, OU doesn't have any retired numbers, but I think Mizzou has somwhere around 7 or 8. USC has 7, but they have all won a Heisman Trophy.

Do we have too many retired numbers? Should we reinstate any of these numbers? What should be the requirement for getting your number retired?

[Brock]

They should stop doing this, except for DT.

[Frazod]

58 should be retired. I assume it is in all but name.

And obviously we need to add 68 and eventually 88.

[DaFace]

I think they definitely did it too often "back in the day," but none of the retirees have even played in my lifetime. I think it would be a slap in the face to "unretire" a jersey, so I'm not in favor of that, but I'd think that at least a few on the list probably shouldn't be.

Tony G should definitely be retired, but I'm OK with one player every 20 years or so.

[Buck]

How is 58 Not Retired?

[Phobia]

37 is also unofficially retired. At this point, I don't think your number should be permanently retired unless you're in the HOF.

I think it's time to put 37 back into circulation and in my mind my opinion carries a little bit more weight than the average Chiefs fan.

[MatriculatingHank]

How Otis Taylor's 89 didn't get retired is quite sad. The fact that he isn't in the NFL Hall of Fame is sad as well.
I'm old school. The Chiefs of the late 60s and early 70s are etched in my memory forever.

[KCrockaholic]

Its really to bad DT's # isnt retired yet. I think it is probably unofficially retired, but i know ill be pissed if i see some scum LB wearing 58 on this team...I already get pissed just looking at Maurice Leggett wearing #31....he better really become a good player to deserve that #

[Frazod]

We've had pretty good luck with players whose jersey numbers ended in "8" haven't we?

Other than Hicks, I guess.

[KCrockaholic]

to answer the question, yes we have to many retired numbers. Lanier, Bell, Buchanan, Dawson, Thomas are the only ones that really deserve it IMO

[KCrockaholic]

We've had pretty good luck with players whose jersey numbers ended in "8" haven't we?

Other than Hicks, I guess.

yeah Elvis Grbac really made 18 look good. ROFLROFLROFL

[unothadeal]

No Jared Allen?

[Chiefs Pantalones]

to answer the question, yes we have to many retired numbers. Lanier, Bell, Buchanan, Dawson, Thomas are the only ones that really deserve it IMO

I agree.

[Deberg_1990]

There doesnt appear to be any standard requirements or accomplishments for making it?



DT definately deserves it because he played a huge role in turning around the franchise.

Guys like Priest and T Green, and a ton of others should probably just get what Roaf got on Sunday.

[Frazod]

yeah Elvis Grbac really made 18 look good. ROFLROFLROFL

I'm blocking that out :grr: and thinking Emmitt Thomas.

[talastan]

I think one of the requirements from Lamar to retire a jersey number was they had to be part of a SB Chiefs team. Hence why we only have players from the 60's and 70's jerseys retired. DT is unofficially retired mainly because he didn't fulfill the SB requirement as set down by Lamar IIRC.

[The Franchise]

How is 58 Not Retired?

This.

[ChiefsCountry]

When Emmitt Thomas' jersey was retired this year, the retired number thing was brought up. Lamar had a rule that if you went into the Hall of Fame as a Chief your number was retired officially. Derrick Thomas will get his number retired when he gets in the hall. 32 and 19 are unofficially retired as well. The team kind of over reacted at the beginning with the deaths and retiring numbers, and Abner Haynes to. Stenrud, Dawson, Bell, Buck, Lainer and Emmit Thomas all deserve it IMO.

[DJ's left nut]

Make the HOF -- get number retired, that's it.

I think we have too many guys in the ring of honor as well. How long 'till T-Rich ends up there?

Some guys are just really good players that represented the uniform well, that's good enough. You do not need to recognize every swinging dick that the fans ever got in a tizzy over.

[Chiefs Pantalones]

I wasn't alive way back then, sadly, because the Chiefs likely won't win another Super Bowl before I die but was Dawson really that good? Yes, he won a Super Bowl, but so did Trent Dilfer.

[ChiefsCountry]

I wasn't alive way back then, sadly, because the Chiefs likely won't win another Super Bowl before I die but was Dawson really that good? Yes, he won a Super Bowl, but so did Trent Dilfer.

He is in the Hall of Fame. That should answer that.

[Chiefs Pantalones]

He is in the Hall of Fame. That should answer that.

I know he's in the Hall of Fame, but was it because of the circumstances of the time? I'm looking at his numbers...not that good.

[ChiefsCountry]

Elvis Grbac put some of the best stats up in Chiefs history. Does he belong in the Hall?

[KCrockaholic]

I'm blocking that out :grr: and thinking Emmitt Thomas.

to bad they waited for Grbac-up to taint that # before they retired it.

[KCrockaholic]

Elvis Grbac put some of the best stats up in Chiefs history. Does he belong in the Hall?

fo sho, remember that 504 yard game vs Oakland that we lost lol.

[Chiefs Pantalones]

Elvis Grbac put some of the best stats up in Chiefs history. Does he belong in the Hall?

Of the million numbers the Chiefs have lamely retired, he might as well have his and be in the Hall of Fame ROFL

[Brock]

7 time pro bowler, 5 time all pro, super bowl mvp, yeah, who let the stupid emo kid into the room.....jesus.....

[Chiefs Pantalones]

7 time pro bowler, 5 time all pro, super bowl mvp, yeah, who let the stupid emo kid into the room.....jesus.....

When I think of great QBs, I don't think of Len Dawson. Do you?

[Brock]

When I think of great QBs, I don't think of Len Dawson. Do you?

You probably don't think of Sonny Jurgensen or Bart Starr either.

[Chiefs Pantalones]

You probably don't think of Sonny Jurgensen or Bart Starr either.

No, I think of those. Unitas, Baugh, Tarkenton, Plunket, Montana, Elway, Marino are the others I think of. Just not Dawson. Oh well. :)

[Brock]

No, I think of those. Unitas, Baugh, Tarkenton, Plunket, Montana, Elway, Marino are the others I think of. Just not Dawson. Oh well. :)

I have no idea why that is, but it's just you.

[Bob Dole]

Since we apparently have a pack of dipshit n00bs, Bob Dole will repost Rick Reilly's SI article from 2003.

Why in creation did Joe Delaney jump into that pit full of water that day?

Why in the world would the AFC's best young running back try to save three drowning boys when he himself couldn't swim?

Nobody -- not his wife, not his mother -- had ever seen him so much as dog-paddle. A year and a half earlier, when he went to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii as the AFC's starting halfback and Rookie of the Year, he never set even a pinkie toe in the ocean or the pool. "Never had," says his wife, Carolyn, who'd known Joe since they were both seven. "In all my years, I never had seen him swim."

So why? Why did the 24-year-old Kansas City Chief try to save three boys he didn't know with a skill he didn't have?

He'd been sitting in the cool shade of a tree on a tar-bubbling afternoon at Chennault Park, a public recreation area in Monroe, La., when he heard voices calling, "Help! Help!" He popped up like a Bobo doll and sprinted toward the pit.

What made Delaney that kind of person? Why did he mow that lonely woman's lawn when he was back home in Haughton, La., rich as he was? Why did he check in on that old man every day he was in town? Why did he show up on the Haughton streets one day with a bag full of new shoes and clothes for kids whose names he'd never heard?

Why could he never think of anything that he wanted for himself? Why didn't he even make a Christmas list? The man never cashed a paycheck in his life. He would throw his checks on top of the TV for his wife. "Don't you want nothing for yourself?" Carolyn would ask Joe.

"Nah," he'd say. "You just take care of you and the girls."

"Nothing?"

"Well, if you could give me a little pocket change for the week, I'd appreciate it."

Why didn't he ask somebody else to help those three kids that day? After all, there were hundreds of people at the park, and not another soul dived into that pit. Nobody but Delaney, one guy who shouldn't have.

The boys in that pit were struggling to stay afloat. They were two brothers -- Harry and LeMarkits Holland, 11 and 10, respectively -- and a cousin, Lancer Perkins, 11. Of course, LeMarkits was always with Harry. He idolized his big brother. A water park adjacent to Chennault was staging a big promotion with free admission that day, and the boys had wandered over to the pit and waded into the water. Like Delaney, they couldn't swim.

So much of it doesn't make sense. Why hadn't the pit -- a huge rain-filled hole that was left after the dirt had been dug out and used to build a water slide -- been fenced off from the public? Who knew that four feet from the edge of the water the hole dropped off like a cliff to about 20 feet deep?

LeMarkits has said that he remembers the water filling his lungs, the sensation of being pulled to the cold bottom, when all of a sudden a huge hand grabbed his shoulder and heaved him out of the deep water. Delaney dived for the other two boys, sinking below the surface. Folks along the bank waited for him to come up, but he never did. Harry and Lancer drowned with him.

As much as you might hope that LeMarkits has done something with the gift Delaney gave him, so far he hasn't. In an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News two years ago, LeMarkits said he has been tortured by the thought that he got to live and Harry didn't. He said he made his mom sell Harry's bike, bed and toys. He even burned Harry's clothes, as if fire could burn his brother from his heart. But it never did. Thirty years old now, LeMarkits got out of jail in May after serving time for distribution of cocaine. There's still time for him to do something wonderful with the life Delaney gave him. After all, Delaney was doing wonderful things with the one he gave up.

He was buried on the Fourth of July, 20 years ago. A telegram from President Reagan was read at the memorial service. The Presidential Citizens Medal was awarded posthumously. Three thousand people came to his funeral. A park in Haughton was named after him. No Chiefs player has worn number 37 since. The 37 Forever Foundation, a nonprofit group in Kansas City, honors him to this day by providing free swimming lessons to inner-city kids.

"I wish they'd had that for Joe and me when we were kids," Carolyn says glumly. She thinks of her Joe every day. She can't help it. Their three daughters and four grandkids remind her of him constantly. There is a pause. "I never thought we wouldn't grow old together."

She's only been on two dates since Joe died. Twenty years, two dates. "Why should I?" she says. "I just keep comparing them to Joe, and they can't stand up. Nobody in the world is like my Joe."

Anyway, the point is, next time you're reading the sports section and you're about half-sick of DUIs and beaten wives, put it down for a second and remember Joe Delaney, who, in that splinter of a moment, when a hero was needed, didn't stop to ask why.

Source (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/rick_reilly/news/2003/07/01/reilly0707/)

[Molitoth]

Eventually there won't be anymore numbers... they need to rid of this "honor".

[HemiEd]

Like a few other events, I remember exactly where I was, and what time it was, when I read about Joe Delaney's death.

[petegz28]

58 should be retired. I assume it is in all but name.

And obviously we need to add 68 and eventually 88.

ASgreed. DT is off limits. No one better ever get to wear 58. (not sure if anyone does now?).

[HemiEd]

Eventually there won't be anymore numbers... they need to rid of this "honor".

What is wrong with triple digits? Hell, if they can get Rothlesburger on the back of a uniform, they can put 169 on there.

[The Franchise]

Since we apparently have a pack of dipshit n00bs, Bob Dole will repost Rick Reilly's SI article from 2003.



Source (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/rick_reilly/news/2003/07/01/reilly0707/)

Wow.....I didn't know about any of that.:huh:

[Adept Havelock]

Do they have too many retired numbers? No.

[Mojo Jojo]

It is easy to figure out how the Chiefs have retired numbers. Two players died due to injuries suffered playing in Chiefs/Texans games and Lamar wanted to honor those two. Haynes was considered the first AFL Superstar. Look back at his stats when the AFL started and he dominated the league. Everyone else is the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that is the standard set by Lamar and continued today.

For all those who want DT in the Hall and his number retired you need to remember that Buchanan, Lanier and Bell all were on the ballot at least five times before their elections.
Each of those three had a much greater impact on the game than DT ever did. Buck redefined the Defensive Tackle position, Lanier and Bell were two-thirds of one of the greatest linebacking units ever. Lanier was named to the All-NFL 75 year squad and I believe Bell still holds the team record for defensive TD's.

One final ramble..sacks were not a stat when those three played. I'm sure if you went back and totaled Buck and Bobby's sacks they would be in the range of Derrick.

[DJ's left nut]

Since we apparently have a pack of dipshit n00bs, Bob Dole will repost Rick Reilly's SI article from 2003.



Source (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/rick_reilly/news/2003/07/01/reilly0707/)

Delaney is a special case.

Ever see how that kid turned out? At last check, he was a complete washout; drug issues, etc... Blames it on the guilt of survival (to which I say "eat a dick"). Gets a new lease on life, proceeds to piss it away and then can't take responsibility for his own failures...nice.

Just a horrible deal all around.