Teams should never retire numbers — unless they'll never consider reissuing them
· Yahoo Sports
The recent attempt by USC to persuade Matt Leinart to allow his number 11 to be unretired is the latest example of the biggest flaw when it comes to retiring numbers.
The temptation to not honor the commitment.
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Any team that would ever consider asking the player whose number has been retired to agree to allow the number to be unretired should never retire numbers. It's that simple. The honor should be permanent and irrevocable. If the team isn't prepared to see to truly set aside a number and never use it again, the number should never be retired.
The whole thing is stupid, frankly. There are ways to immortalize players without carving away at the 100 available numbers. And those methods are much easier to endure, since there would never be an occasion to take it away unless the person does something later to justify it.
The request puts the player whose number was retired in an awkward spot. His choices are to give back the permanent tribute he has already accepted, or to be perceived as a "jerk" by not helping the team.
For pro football franchises, it's a matter of the player picking a different number. For college football programs, it could result in the player picking another school.
So just don't do it. The teams that have never retired numbers (the Raiders, Cowboys, Texans, and Falcons) have gotten it right. And they should keep it that way.
For the teams that have retired numbers, they should keep it that way, too. And the player whose number was retired (or his family) should never be asked to let the number be issued again.