From the Charlotte Hornets retiring Dell Curry’s #30 this month to the University of Colorado locking away Shedeur Sanders’ #2 and Travis Hunter’s #12 after just two seasons, we are no longer honoring legends; we are hoarding inventory. It is time to clear the rafters and put the history back on the field.

The Death of the “Classic” Aesthetic

The most visible casualty of this trend is the visual language of the game itself. For decades, the 1–35 range was the gold standard for basketball and football stars. Today, it is a “dead zone.”

In Boston, the Celtics have retired so many low numbers that veteran Dennis Schröder was famously forced to wear #71—a number that looks more like a glitch in a video game than a point guard’s jersey. When the New York Yankees ran out of single digits, they didn’t stop to reconsider the sustainability of the practice; they simply moved to the higher, “uglier” numbers, eventually forcing modern stars into the high 90s.

By retiring numbers, franchises aren’t preserving history; they are ensuring that the stars of tomorrow look like training camp invitees.

The “Mercenary” Problem

The standard for retirement has also been dangerously diluted. Vince Carter recently saw his No. 15 retired by two different franchises, despite never winning a championship. Shaquille O’Neal has his jersey hanging in three different cities.

When a “mercenary” superstar can lock up prime real estate in multiple markets for a five-year stint, the system is broken.

We are currently facing a future where players like Kevin Durant or LeBron James could leave a trail of “dead numbers” across 15% of the league. If the goal is to honor the player, why must we punish the future roster?

The “Living Legacy” Solution

The answer isn’t to stop honoring legends—it’s to change how we do it. The Dallas Cowboys and Michigan Wolverines have already provided the blueprint.

Instead of retiring a number, they treat it as a Legacy Number. In Dallas, #88 isn’t a dusty banner; it’s a crown. It has been passed from Drew Pearson to Michael Irvin to CeeDee Lamb. Every time a new star puts it on, the broadcasters talk about the legends who wore it before.

When Warren Moon unretired his No. 1 for Cam Ward in Tennessee last year, he proved that a legend’s legacy is more secure when it’s being defended on the field than when it’s hanging in the ceiling.

A Plan for 2026:

* Unretire the 1–35 Range: Every team should be required to keep at least 30 “prime” numbers in circulation.

* The “Ring of Honor” Pivot: Move names to the rafters, but keep the numbers on the backs of the players.

* Legacy Patches: If a player wears a historic number, include a small, elegant patch on the jersey to honor the original legend.

We need to stop treating jersey numbers like headstones. Sports history should be a torch passed from one generation to the next, not a graveyard of fabric. It’s time to unretire the past and give the future some room to breathe.

However, the most recent draft brought about a change in the quarterback landscape, as three signal-callers were chosen in the first round. Bryce Young became the top overall pick, joining the Carolina Panthers. Additionally, C.J. Stroud from Ohio State was selected by the Houston Texans, while Anthony Richardson from Florida found his new home with the Indianapolis Colts.

Let’s take a look back at the quarterbacks chosen in the first round of the NFL draft, starting from the 1998 class, which included the legendary Peyton Manning. Please note that the quarterbacks marked with an asterisk (*) achieved Pro Bowl recognition at some point in their careers.

1998:
– Peyton Manning (No. 1, Indianapolis Colts)
– Ryan Leaf (No. 2, San Diego Chargers)

1999:
– Tim Couch (No. 1, Cleveland Browns)
– Donovan McNabb (No. 2, Philadelphia Eagles)
– Akili Smith (No. 3, Cincinnati Bengals)
– Daunte Culpepper (No. 11, Minnesota Vikings)
– Cade McNown (No. 12, Chicago Bears)

2000:
– Chad Pennington (No. 18, New York Jets)

2001:
– Michael Vick* (No. 1, Atlanta Falcons)

2002:
– David Carr (No. 1, Houston Texans)
– Joey Harrington (No. 3, Detroit Lions)
– Patrick Ramsey (No. 32, Washington Commanders)

2003:
– Carson Palmer* (No. 1, Cincinnati Bengals)
– Byron Leftwich (No. 7, Jacksonville Jaguars)
– Kyle Boller (No. 19, Baltimore Ravens)
– Rex Grossman (No. 22, Chicago Bears)

2004:
– Eli Manning* (No. 1, New York Giants)
– Philip Rivers* (No. 4, San Diego Chargers)
– Ben Roethlisberger* (No. 11, Pittsburgh Steelers)
– J.P. Losman (No. 22, Buffalo Bills)

2005:
– Alex Smith* (No. 1, San Francisco 49ers)
– Aaron Rodgers* (No. 24, Green Bay Packers)
– Jason Campbell (No. 25, Washington Commanders)

2006:
– Vince Young* (No. 3, Tennessee Titans)
– Matt Leinart (No. 10, Arizona Cardinals)
– Jay Cutler* (No. 11, Denver Broncos)

2007:
– JaMarcus Russell (No. 1, Oakland Raiders)
– Brady Quinn (No. 22, Cleveland Browns)

2008:
– Matt Ryan* (No. 3, Atlanta Falcons)
– Joe Flacco (No. 18, Baltimore Ravens)

2009:
– Matthew Stafford* (No. 1, Detroit Lions)
– Mark Sanchez (No. 5, New York Jets)
– Josh Freeman (No. 17, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

2010:
– Sam Bradford (No. 1, St. Louis Rams)
– Tim Tebow (No. 25, Denver Broncos)

2011:
– Cam Newton* (No. 1, Carolina Panthers)
– Jake Locker (No. 8, Tennessee Titans)
– Blaine Gabbert (No. 10, Jacksonville Jaguars)
– Christian Ponder (No. 12, Minnesota Vikings)

2012:
– Andrew Luck* (No. 1, Indianapolis Colts)
– Robert Griffin III* (No. 2, Washington Commanders)
– Ryan Tannehill* (No. 8, Miami Dolphins)
– Brandon Weeden (No. 22, Cleveland Browns)

2013:
– EJ Manuel (No. 16, Buffalo Bills)

2014:
– Blake Bortles (No. 3, Jacksonville Jaguars)
– Johnny Manziel (No. 22, Cleveland Browns)
– Teddy Bridgewater* (No. 32, Minnesota Vikings)

2015:
– Jameis Winston* (No. 1, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
– Marcus Mariota (No. 2, Tennessee Titans)

2016:
– Jared Goff* (No. 1, Los Angeles Rams)
– Carson Wentz* (No. 2, Philadelphia Eagles)
– Paxton Lynch (No. 26, Denver Broncos)

2017:
– Mitchell Trubisky* (No. 2, Chicago Bears)
– Patrick Mahomes* (No. 10, Kansas City Chiefs)
– Deshaun Watson* (No. 12, Houston Texans)

2018:
– Baker Mayfield (No. 1, Cleveland Browns)
– Sam Darnold (No. 3, New York Jets)
– Josh Allen* (No. 7, Buffalo Bills)
– Josh Rosen (No. 10, Arizona Cardinals)
– Lamar Jackson* (No. 32, Baltimore Ravens)

2019:
– Kyler Murray* (No. 1, Arizona Cardinals)
– Daniel Jones (No. 6, New York Giants)
– Dwayne Haskins (No. 15, Washington Commanders)

2020:
– Joe Burrow* (No. 1, Cincinnati Bengals)
– Tua Tagovailoa (No. 5, Miami Dolphins)
– Justin Herbert* (No. 6, Los Angeles Chargers)
– Jordan Love (No. 26, Green Bay Packers)

2021:
– Trevor Lawrence* (No. 1, Jacksonville Jaguars)
– Zach Wilson (No. 2, New York Jets)
– Trey Lance (No. 3, San Francisco 49ers)
– Justin Fields (No. 11, Chicago Bears)
– Mac Jones* (No. 15, New England Patriots)

2022:
– Kenny Pickett (No. 20, Pittsburgh Steelers)

2023:
– Bryce Young (No. 1, Carolina Panthers)
– C.J. Stroud (No. 2, Houston Texans)
– Anthony Richardson (No. 4, Indianapolis Colts)

“After a lackluster wild card round fans anxiously await the next set of games,” stated MyTopSportsbooks.com Spokesman Geoff Johnson, “these games typically do not disappoint giving us the best weekend of the NFL season!”

Analysts at MyTopSportsbooks.com posted the following odds regarding this week’s NFL playoff games:

NFL MVP odds:

Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay): 1/6
J.J. Watt (Houston): 2/1
Tom Brady (New England): 10/1
DeMarco Murray (Dallas): 12/1
Tony Romo (Dallas): 15/1

Super Bowl Odds:

Odds for the eight remaining playoff teams to win the Super Bowl:

Seattle Seahawks: 2/1
New England Patriots: 3/1
Green Bay Packers: 5/1
Denver Broncos: 6/1
Dallas Cowboys: 7/1
Indianapolis Colts: 16/1
Baltimore Ravens: 16/1
Carolina Panthers: 22/1

Odds the Super Bowl winner returns to the Super Bowl next season: 14/1

Odds on a halftime show wardrobe malfunction: 33/1

Over/under on number of Katy Perry wardrobe changes: 1.5

Odds that Carrie Underwood forgets the words to the national anthem: 100/1

Over/under on the length of the national anthem: 1:44

Divisional Playoff Props:

Odds on the following games going to overtime:

Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers: 9/1
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos: 9/1
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots: 10/1
Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks: 12/1

Odds on there being a brawl in the following games:

Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks: 6/1
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots: 8/1
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos: 10/1
Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers: 12/1

Odds on a fan streaking the field in the following games:

Carolina Panthers at Seattle Seahawks: 10/1
Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots: 15/1
Indianapolis Colts at Denver Broncos: 20/1
Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers: 20/1

General Playoff Props:

Odds on which team will commit the most penalties in the playoffs:

Seattle Seahawks: 2/1
New England Patriots: 3/1
Denver Broncos: 4/1
Carolina: 5/1
Indy: 5/1

Odds on which QB will pass for the most yards in the playoffs:

Tom Brady (New England): 2/1
Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay): 3/1
Peyton Manning (Denver): 7/2
Andrew Luck: 4/1
Tony Romo (Dallas): 6/1

Odds on which RB will rush for the most yards in the playoffs:

Marshawn Lynch (Seattle): 3/2
DeMarco Murray (Dallas): 3/2
Jonathan Stewart (Carolina): 6/1
Eddie Lacy (Green Bay): 7/1
C.J. Anderson (Denver): 7/1

Odds on which player will record the most sacks in the playoffs:

Elvis Dumervil (Baltimore): 4/1
Von Miller (Denver): 5/1
DeMarcus Ware (Denver): 6/1
Charles Johnson (Carolina): 6/1
Clay Matthews (Green Bay): 8/1

Odds someone gets suspended for stomping on a QB: 50/1

Sports and Newsworthy Information can be found at: www.MyTopSportsbooks.com

The Cleveland Browns have high hopes for rebuilding the franchise. Whether it is Johnny Manziel or Brian Hoyer quarterbacking the Browns’ offense, both potential quarterbacks would love to have Josh Gordon as their target. It is sort of ridiculous that Gordon led NFL in receiving last year, even though he served a two game suspension. Last season he totaled 1,646 yards, which beat the second most leading receiver, Antonio Brown, by 147 yards. In fact, the second leading wide receiver on the Browns, Greg Little, totaled 465 yards last season, which is a diminutive 28% of Gordon’s total yards.

Not only does Josh Gordon’s potential absence directly impact the Browns, his absence indirectly impacts fantasy football owners – especially in keeper leagues. Despite sitting out weeks one and two of last season, Gordon averaged 13.8 points a week for fantasy owners. After the Browns’ week ten bye-week, Gordon went on a hot streak and averaged 20 points to close out his monstrous season. I was fortunate enough to have Josh Gordon on my team last season, and I was tremendously grateful for Gordon carrying my team some weeks.

It would be a shame to see Josh Gordon’s career be halted because of poor personal decisions. It would not be the type of ‘flash’ that Josh Gordon would want to be remembered for.

With that said here are the six PROPOSED rule changes for 2013 and a brief commentary on each:

1. A play that would have been automatically reviewed by instant replay will still be reviewed even if a coach throws his challenge flag. Any coach who challenges a play that he’s not permitted to challenge would be charged a timeout, and wouldn’t get his timeout back even if he wins the challenge, or would lose 15 yards if his team is out of timeouts. But the play itself will still be reviewed.

I don’t get it. You can now challenge non challenge-able plays as long as you have a timeout or 15 yards to spare? This is going to be a clusterf***.

2. Player safety: On field goals and extra points, restrictions are added to what rush teams can do. No more than six defensive players would be permitted to align on either side of the snapper, defensive players can’t push their teammates across the line, and the long snapper is considered a defenseless player.

So you cannot challenge field goals with any kind of strategy anymore. Oooh, good. Let’s continue…

3. Eliminate the tuck rule.

Several teams have been saved via the rule. Some of the biggest moments in league history have been altered due to this rule. And now they want to change it? I guess better late than never, but never late is better….

4. Allow tight ends and H-backs to wear 40-49.

Why not? It only makes sense. Will Tebow be required to change numbers? I kid, I kid….

5. Player safety: Offensive players will not be allowed to block low when going toward their own end lines in the tackle box. Can’t go low when peeling back anywhere on the field.

Seems like a good rule. Too many defensive players have been losing ACL’s due to these types of blocks. The more “man up” blocking the better in my opinion.

6. Player safety: Initiating contact with the crown of the helmet is a foul if the runner or tackler delivers a forceable blow against his opponent when both players are outside the tackle box.

This is insane. How are running backs supposed to run then? Guys are told their whole careers to run behind their pads, break down and get low…. and now in the NFL it’s a foul. This is crazy because offensive players are not the ones inflicting concussions in those scenarios it’s the tacklers leading with their heads trying to make Sports Center. This is a game altering rule that should be thrown out.

H/T: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/14/competition-committee-proposes-six-rule-changes-three-bylaw-changes/

And with that “anything can happen” mantra remaining true, Wes Welker took a meeting with the Denver Broncos and did not leave the state before signing a two year contract. That’s right the Broncos now have Wes Welker, Demariyus Thomas, Eric Decker, and some guy named Peyton Manning throwing the ball.

Agreed to terms on a 2-yr deal with Wes Welker. Excited to have Wes join the Broncos. His production & toughness will be a great asset!

— John Elway (@johnelway) March 13, 2013

The Patriots are a team that has no problem cutting ties with their veterans. Considering Welker caught more footballs than everyone over the last four years, maybe they should have compensated him… but oh well. Their loss is Denver’s gain.

No one has seen Vince Young on a football field since Buffalo cut him last August but word is that VY has stayed in shape and returned to Texas. He is finishing up his degree and raising his family which is always good to hear.

However as far as the NFL goes, that phone has not been ringing….. until now. Word is that the Raiders are having discussions about bringing in Vince for a workout:

Young is in talks with the Raiders about visiting them for a workout, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Rapoport cautioned that those talks are “preliminary,” so we’re probably not going to be seeing Young in the Silver and Black any time soon.

It would be really good to see Vince back in the league. If even as a backup.

• The NFL actually plays the fewest games per year
• The NFL’s ticket prices are double what the other sports offer
• Despite playing so few games, the NFL dominates with $11 billion (Yes, billion with a B) in ticket revenues
• You can see 10 49ers games for the price of one NY Giants game
• Peyton Manning and is scheduled to make $90 million over the next three years. Let’s see if he gets it.

Check it out:

Via: ABC Tickets

Through unnamed sources MDHQ has acquired the transcript of the NFL owner’s top secret meeting. The meeting took place in Chicago where Roger Godell, DeMaurice Smith, Judge Arthur Boylan, Jerry Jones, Jerry Richardson, Robert Kraft, and Art Rooney discussed settling the lawsuit between the trade organization formerly known as the NFLPA and the owners.

Below is a complete transcript of what happened:

Judge Boylan: Thank you gentlemen for meeting with me today. Today we are going to discuss-

Jerry Jones: We are going to discuss why no dang football is gettin’ played in my there stadium!!!

Judge: Calm down Mr. Jones..

DeMaurice Smith: THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! You built a BILLION DOLLAR STADIUM, AND YOU’RE CLAIMING YOU’RE LOSING MONEY?!!!!!

Jerry Richardson: Did you see Jimmy Clausen? I LOST MILLIONS!

Robert Kraft: *smirking* no one told you to draft him. How’s those Quarterbacks working out?

Richardson: I didn’t come here to be belittled! Screw you Robert, your three rings, your QB and, his pony tail! I heard a few little rumors *sniff* about some of your draft picks!

Judge: Gentlemen, gentlemen! We are here to discuss settling the labor agreement.

Jones: Exactly. Now I think we should add 16 games on the schedule.

Richardson: 16 MORE GAMES? HAVE YOU SEEN JIMMY CLAUSEN?

Kraft: Didn’t you draft that young guy? The big guy? The entertainer..

DeMaurice: Cam Newton! My boy.

Richardson: I drafted Cam Newton? I could have sworn I wrote Nick Fairley’s name on that damned card.

DeMaurice: You drafted Cam Newton.

Richardson *face palm*

Kraft *bursts out laughing*

Richardson: SCREW YOU BOB!

Jones: *pushing a pre written contract on the table* So 32 regular season games, we all agree to this right?

DeMaurice: And exactly how we are splitting revenue?!

Jones: All n’ half.

Judge: All in half?

DeMaurice: What is all in half?

Jones: Give me all the money, and I’ll half to think about what I’ma give you.

DeMaurice: HELL NO!

Kraft: I actually like this. I agree!

Judge: Mr. Rooney you’ve been awfully silent.

Art Rooney: I think we can do 32 games. I wouldn’t mind playing Cincinnati and Cleveland 6 times a year.

Richardson: SEE THIS IS THE B.S. I’M TALKING ABOUT!

Kraft: Don’t get mad you can’t compete Jerry. Just draft another QB next year, it will be alright.

Richardson: I’VE HAD IT! *storms out*

DeMaurice: 32 games my ass. I’m outta here too. *storms out*

Judge: Well gentlemen, it looks like we’ll have to table these discussions for another time….

Disclaimer: This is a satirical piece of fiction! Any reproduction or use of this article must include a link back to http://www.mockdrafthq.com!