2 part question. Do they retire #54 and does it happen this season?

[The Gr8est]

There are only a limited amount of numbers, even if we use the number "bleen", which George Carlin says was discovered between 6 and 7.

Don't retire Tedy's number, and un-retire all previously retired numbers.
Retiring numbers is a short-sighted way to honor a player, find another way to honor the player and keep all available numbers for current players.

If you want to remember that "Stone Hands" Simpson is wearing Tedy Bruschi's old number and Tedy wouldn't have dropped that pick, well then Tedy still resides in your memory, where he should be.

 

[yppak]

Willie McGinest had like 86 career sacks which isn't chicken feed. he also had at least 2 immortal plays forever associated with him, one of which was just about directly responsible for our 1st Lombardi.

That hit on Warner wasd the reason Ty Law picked that ball off for 6 the other way.

The goalline stand against Indy with time expired where he ran up the field afterward is another.

To say he isn't in the "class" of Bruschi or Troy is silly imho

Well putting McGinest in the same class as Bruschi and Brown over 2 plays is silly IMHO, there are a few great Patriot players that have contributed there own immortal plays over the Super Bowl run, which also could be pointed to as the play that made difference. Vinatieri, Law, Wiggins, all have plays that bring a smile to my face when I think of them, but I don’t think we will see any of their numbers retired.

I liked Willie a lot and in my mind he is on the bubble for this, but when I think of players that did everything for this team, on and off the field and deserve to be honored Bruschi and Brown are a step above Willie. I may be unfairly biasing my opinion due to Willie playing a few years elsewhere, but that’s just my own 2 cents.

 

[Oswlek]

Willie McGinest had like 86 career sacks which isn't chicken feed. he also had at least 2 immortal plays forever associated with him, one of which was just about directly responsible for our 1st Lombardi.

That hit on Warner wasd the reason Ty Law picked that ball off for 6 the other way.

The goalline stand against Indy with time expired where he ran up the field afterward is another.

To say he isn't in the "class" of Bruschi or Troy is silly imho

Mike Vrabel had the hit on Warner, not McG. Willie did have a big sack of Warner late in the game as it seemed StL was about to take control.

And McGinnest gets far too much credit for the James stop. Big Ted had literally thrown two man down in front of Edge and, barring Willie being completely pancaked opening an outside lane, James was going down anyway.

What Willie did do on that play was to deek Manning into audibling to a run by being off the line at first and rushing up as the play started.

All that said, I definitely put Mac in the class with Brown and Tedy as far as on field contributions. I've heard he wasn't quite up to their level in the lockerroom, though.

 

[sonsofkraftybob]

Mike Vrabel had the hit on Warner, not McG. Willie did have a big sack of Warner late in the game as it seemed StL was about to take control.

.

Oh yeah, that was Vrable who hit his arm...Willies was the one which made the cover of SI. My bad...the one of him dragging Manning down is etched in my head as well.

Either way, it's a good debate to have.

 

[PatrietteAz]

Oh yeah, that was Vrable who hit his arm...Willies was the one which made the cover of SI. My bad...the one of him dragging Manning down is etched in my head as well.

Either way, it's a good debate to have.

I firgging LOVE those pictures I think I have that SI stashed away somewhere.

That is one thing I told Willie when I met him last year. "You were Peyton manning's worst nightmare". He just grinned that Willlie grin and said "Oh yeah?"

What a geeky fan I must have sounded like.

 

[Oswlek]

I firgging LOVE those pictures I think I have that SI stashed away somewhere.

That is one thing I told Willie when I met him last year. "You were Peyton manning's worst nightmare". He just grinned that Willlie grin and said "Oh yeah?"

What a geeky fan I must have sounded like.

Nothing wrong with that. I can still remember Branch asking Pitt fans, "where yo towels at? Where yo towels at?" and I wasn't even there.

 

[BluVayner]

It would be wonderful to retire the numbers of all of our favorite players, but pretty soon we would have players wearing numbers like 147.

You honor a person not a number. There are plenty of better ways to honor a person. The Patriots have the best team Hall of Fame in the NFL. Guys like Hannah, Grogan, Nelson, and Haynes are already in there. Bruschi will be inducted on the first year that he is eligible, as will Troy Brown.

I think that every retired number should be brought out of retirement. I also think that it would be a great idea to add a "ring of honor" to Gillette Stadium, and hang the names and numbers of all of the great players. Then you wouldn't have great players being snubbed, simply because there are too many 50s or too many 70s already retired.