USA TODAY Sports
JJ Watt cannot use No. 99 in Arizona. Unless he can.
Officially retired in honor of the running back / defender Marshall Goldberg by the Cardinals, a member of the Goldberg family paved the way for a layoff. Her daughter, Ellen Goldberg Tullos, told TMZ.com that the family would not object to the number being withdrawn for Watt use.
“He has my blessings,” Tullos told TMZ.com, “and I’m sure my dad would be more than happy if he kept this up. . . . I know that my father was very honored when they withdrew his number, but he always respected the other players. And if JJ Watt had been with number 99 for a long time and that meant something to him, I think he would be delighted to let him use the number and cancel retirement or whatever the appropriate word is.
The proper word is “retired”, because that is the number. When teams retire the numbers, they are certainly aware of the possibility that, at some point in the future, there may be someone who wants to use them and / or someone to whom they would like to distribute them. To allow this, do not remove the numbers.
Goldberg’s number has been retired. This must be the end of it. Just as it should have been the end of it nine years ago, when Peyton Manning wanted to use No. 18 in Denver, but he had been retired.
The best players of all time can be honored in other ways besides permanently leaving their number aside. If, however, the number is to be set aside permanently, then (wait for it) the number must be set aside permanently.