Isaac Bruce won't be wearing No. 80

[ramsanddodgers]

Killion: New 49er won't wear Rice's No. 80
By Ann Killion
Mercury News
Article Launched: 03/13/2008 03:28:23 AM PDT


Isaac Bruce won't be wearing No. 80.

The *****, usually tone-deaf when it comes to honoring their past, put this percolating issue to rest Wednesday.

Jersey numbers will be assigned next week, but no sacrilege will take place. There will be no blasphemy when Bruce gets dressed for his first practice.

"Isaac Bruce will not be wearing No. 80," team spokesman Aaron Salkin said. "We are leaving it in honor of Jerry Rice's legacy."

That's nice. Now let's get to the more important part of the legacy-preserving: When is the jersey retirement ceremony?

Ever since Bruce signed with the ***** two weeks ago, the question has been lingering about which number he would wear. Bruce wore No. 80 throughout his stellar career with the St. Louis Rams and didn't automatically say the appropriate thing when the question was asked. No 49er in his right mind would ever consider donning No. 80, but Bruce never said that.

On blogs and talk shows, the issue had legs. The image of another ***** wide receiver running around in No. 80 was just too weird not to generate interest. Even Rice weighed in and kept the story going, by giving his blessing if Bruce wanted to wear the number.

Rice, however, was only doing what Steve Largent had done for him when Rice signed with Seattle in 2004. Back then, I ripped Rice for accepting Largent's offer to wear No. 80 for the Seahawks, speculating what it would be like if Isaac Bruce came to the ***** and asked permission to do the same thing.
I'm not prescient: I even scoffed at that scenario because, as I wrote then, "the John York ***** would never sign a player as prominent as Bruce." I didn't factor in two developments: that York would start spending free-agent money and that Bruce wouldn't be quite as prominent.

But I received an angry phone call in response to that column from Rice's wife, Jackie. It turned out that the Seahawks had engineered the idea, contacting Largent and presenting Rice with a No. 80 Seahawks jersey as a done deal.

In any case, Largent's gesture registered with Rice. As he said at the time, "If somewhere down the road that should happen with me, I'm going to do the same thing. Because of him."

Now we are somewhere down the road. Besides following Largent's generous example, Rice might have had an ulterior motive. By offering up No. 80 to Bruce, Rice has issued a public reminder that jersey No. 80 still hasn't been retired by the *****.

Rice's career ended in training camp of 2005 with Denver. He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in two years. If you could retire only two ***** jerseys, they would be No. 16 and No. 80. Joe Montana's number was retired in 1997, three years after he stopped playing. Rice is still waiting.

It might be that Rice's legacy rests in the hands of people who aren't sure what to do with it. The current ***** have managed to ignore tradition, alienate homegrown legends and allow their heritage to rot.

One could argue that jersey numbers don't really mean much. But they do for the *****. The present is in such a sorry state and the achievements of the past are the only thing worth preserving.

Thankfully, No. 80 won't be on anyone else's back. Now it's time to put it up on the wall.

We're gonna miss ya, Reverend. But we are Rams fans FIRST and player fans second.

[Mooselini]

Hopefully we retire his number as a Ram.

[Rambos]

No 49er in his right mind would ever consider donning No. 80, but Bruce never said that.

Thats because he is NOT a 49er!

[Brain Daddy]

God I hate Ann Killion. Someone should get a clue, tie it to a brick, and throw it through her window, because it doesn't seem she'll get one otherwise. As an added bonus, maybe it'll hit her in the head, too.

[Ramer]

Yes, we need to retire # 80.

[Striped_Kramer]

Looks like Ike will be wearing #88 in the red and gold...

Jersey numbers have been chosen by Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson. Bruce will be wearing #88, and Johnson will be wearing #82.

[moklerman]

Does that mean that Freddie Solomon fans are going to be pissed?

[Striped_Kramer]

Absolutely!