When a jersey is retired in professional sports, it generally means no one on that team will ever wear that particular number again. It’s a way to honor what that player did for the franchise during their time there. The New York Giants, as one of the oldest teams in the NFL, have retired 14 numbers for 15 players. No doubt the most famous of these is No. 56, worn by linebacker Lawrence Taylor. He’s arguably the greatest player ever to don the Big Blue of the Giants.
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Lawrence was the second defensive player ever to win MVP back in 1986 and also won three DPOYs. He terrorized QBs to the tune of 142 sacks, earning a whopping eight First-Team All-Pro nods and 10 Pro Bowl selections.
He’s considered arguably the greatest defensive player ever to grace the NFL gridiron. So not only is he a Giants great, he’s an all-time great. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer despite a questionable off-the-field lifestyle and had his jersey retired in 1994, the year after he hung up his cleats.
So, yeah, he’s pretty good. Not really the type of guy you’d expect to have his jersey unretired. But alas, Giants No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter had the gall to ask L.T. to do just that.
The ever-candid Taylor had a pretty clear response to the shocking request from Carter, who didn’t even wear No. 56 in college (he wore No. 11).
“I know he would love to wear that number, but hey, I think it’s retired. Get another number, I don’t care if it’s double zero, and then make it famous.”
Taylor was clear, but if he hadn’t been, Stephen A. Smith wanted to make sure that Carter got the message. On Tuesday’s First Take in the aftermath of the request, Stephen A. went on a classic Stephen A. rant. And for once, it was one we could get behind.
“He’s starting off his NFL career, as maybe the most ignorant draft pick in history. This is Lawrence Taylor, my brother, that we’re talking about,” said the analyst.
“We have seen the great ones, throughout the years … no one has been compared to Lawrence Taylor. … THIS IS L.T.!! This is L.T. we’re talking about here! … Before you play an NFL game?? Before you take an NFL snap?? You’re asking to wear THAT number?? That is SHAMEFUL!” he added.
Shameful indeed. But strangely enough, this is not the only or the biggest story regarding retired jerseys in football this year. There have been two other recent instances, one positive, one a little more negative.
The first was when the University of Colorado Buffaloes football team, helmed by head coach Deion Sanders, decided to retire the jerseys of Travis Hunter and his son, Shedeur Sanders, at the program’s spring game before the pair were even drafted into the NFL.
It was met with a mixed reaction; most believed they probably deserved the honor at some point, but felt like they skipped the line ahead of other National Champion Buffaloes alumni.
The other was more heartening. The Tennessee Titans drafted quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft. Ward wore the No. 1 jersey throughout his college career, which had three stops. However, that number was retired for Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon, who played for the forerunners of the Titans, the Houston Oilers.
Upon the occasion of Ward’s introductory press conference, he was surprised by the legend himself, who brought in a No. 1 jersey and gave Ward his blessing to wear his retired number.
This isn’t to say L.T.’s reaction to Carter was wrong—retired numbers should stay retired at the whim of the player for whom it was retired, Moon offered his to Ward, there was no request—but it was nice to see. It also made more sense considering Ward actually wore No. 1 in college, while Carter wore No. 11.
Hopefully, L.T.’s rebuff doesn’t create any animosity between Carter and the franchise, because it really shouldn’t.
