Keefer & 21

[stalkingpoon]

What's y'alls opinion on 21 being worn? Sherrill made a post yesterday talking about it was officially retired and shouldn't be worn without permission from his mother.

[Todd4State]

I think it shouldn't be worn without the permission of his mother. I think there should be a memorial to all of the MSU football players who died while playing at MSU as well.

[shrimp]

What's y'alls opinion on 21 being worn? Sherrill made a post yesterday talking about it was officially retired and shouldn't be worn without permission from his mother.

*Keffer

[Commercecomet24]

I think it shouldn't be worn without the permission of his mother. I think there should be a memorial to all of the MSU football players who died while playing at MSU as well.

100% agree on all!

[fader2103]

Man that's hard. My fav number is 21 so I wanna see it in maroon and white on Saturdays

[RougeDawg]

Probably best to do some type of "requirement" in order to get the privilege of wearing the number. For example, the player who does the most for the community or volunteers so many hours a year. Something like that to make it a beneficial act for all involved. And help keep the tragic event fresh in everyone's minds while promoting a good cause.

[trob115]

I don't see a problem with it being worn. We should just make an award for offensive and defensive players to wear the respective 36 and 21. I am not sure if there are other numbers that have been "retired". I think it would be a great tribute to the players.

[preachermatt83]

I think it is for the current staff and administration to decide... not Jackie.

[Anonymous]

You can't realistically retire every number worn by a state player, nor have we retired every number worn by a player who passed.

If it's officially retired then that's another thing. But I'm not aware of us having any such process for retiring football numbers.

[HSVDawg]

In a vaccuum, its really easy to say the number should be retired and stay retired in any and all circumstances. But, there are added variables that many don't consider. What if a 5-star, No. 1 RB in the country comes out and says he is sold on MSU, but in order to go there he has to be able to wear his high school number which is #21? That kind of stuff seems trivial to us adults in the real world, but it can be a make or break deal for a 17 year old high school kid who may feel we aren't showing him enough "love". Now, I'm not saying the right thing to do is let him have the number and I'm not saying it's right to not let him have it either. But it is just one factor to consider.

[RutherfordBHayes]

There's a difference between retiring a jersey and retiring a number.

I'm partial to leaving it off the roster, myself.

[LC Dawg]

I'm not sure if the number is officially retired or not but it seems Keffer's mom thinks it is so someone needs to talk to her and try to respect her wishes.
We need to have an official policy on whether or not we retire numbers and the process that needs to take place if we do retire numbers. There should be no question as to whether or not a number is retired.

[HSVDawg]

I'm not sure if the number is officially retired or not but it seems Keffer's mom thinks it is so someone needs to talk to her and try to respect her wishes.
We need to have an official policy on whether or not we retire numbers and the process that needs to take place if we do retire numbers. There should be no question as to whether or not a number is retired.

There is no question as to whether or not the number is retired. It isn't. Nick Gibson wore it on the field in live game action last season. Jackie may be misremembering or maybe misunderstood from the get-go, but the "retirement" of the number was always a handshake agreement that was passed from coaching staff to coaching staff. The school has to be the one to officially retire it (not any one head coach or even AD). Jackie obviously honored the agreement, Croom honored it, and Mullen honroed for the first 7 years of his tenure. Then he decided to not honor it any more. I'm not sure why. Hopefully there is a good reason, but the crux of this issue is that the number wasn't properly retired by MSU at the time of Keffer's passing. Nobody can expect every head coach from now until the end of time at MSU to not use a certain number just because a coach back in the mid 90's made a promise to a player's mother and no other formal statute set forth by the university. This issue wasn't handled correctly back in 1997, and that's about all that can really be said.

[rcsteph1]

I think it would be a great way to remember a player by letting an offensive player wear #21 and defensive player wear #36. Have the players and coaches vote on this every year. I do not think the families would have an issue with this if its handled the right way. Bring them in and present the idea and present it as in memory of and as a reward for hard work on the field and in the classroom and community. Maybe even allow the family present the jersey to that player prior to the first game or something like that.

[maroonmania]

I don't see a problem with it being worn. We should just make an award for offensive and defensive players to wear the respective 36 and 21. I am not sure if there are other numbers that have been "retired". I think it would be a great tribute to the players.

I know we have the Bell and McGee numbers retired but I never understood why the same courtesy wasn't extended to Rodney Stowers (97) from Jackie's first season as HC. He is the only MSU player in my lifetime that I can remember that actually died from an injury that occurred ON the field but he is rarely ever even mentioned. Seems like we should do it for all or do it for none.

[Todd4State]

In a vaccuum, its really easy to say the number should be retired and stay retired in any and all circumstances. But, there are added variables that many don't consider. What if a 5-star, No. 1 RB in the country comes out and says he is sold on MSU, but in order to go there he has to be able to wear his high school number which is #21? That kind of stuff seems trivial to us adults in the real world, but it can be a make or break deal for a 17 year old high school kid who may feel we aren't showing him enough "love". Now, I'm not saying the right thing to do is let him have the number and I'm not saying it's right to not let him have it either. But it is just one factor to consider.

I think the solution to that would be to have the recruit contact Keefer's mother and ask for permission. I have a feeling that she would as long as he understood Keefer's legacy.

[Todd4State]

I know we have the Bell and McGee numbers retired but I never understood why the same courtesy wasn't extended to Rodney Stowers (97) from Jackie's first season as HC. He is the only MSU player in my lifetime that I can remember that actually died from an injury that occurred ON the field but he is rarely ever even mentioned. Seems like we should do it for all or do it for none.


That's why I like the idea of a memorial. It's much more inclusive. Plus the reality is we will likely have more players pass away in the future although it seems like we have had more than our fair share over the past 25 years.

If it were up to me we would do like Ole Miss does the Chucky Mullins jersey and honor a senior on offense with Keefer's number and one on defense with Bell's. That said if Keefer's mother wants it retired she should have that right if we offered that to her. I would say that if it is retired MSU should have communicated that but I suspect Keefer's Mom wants to keep it as low key as possible. I can't think of another reason why MSU would keep it so down low.

And maybe Gibson asked for permission and received it. I certainly hope he did anyway.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

Hypothetically, if we had put in place an award system similar to the Chucky Mullins award, which of our players would have earned the right to have worn 21 and 36 in past seasons?