When Should You Retire a Jersey?

Today, the University of Texas at Austin announced that they were intending to retire the jerseys of nine prominent athletes in Longhorn history, including Vince Young and Kevin Durant. In the past, UT had a policy in which if a player wins a National Player of the Year award, their jersey is retired. (Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams won Heisman trophies, which led them to their honor, and T.J. Ford won National Player of the Year awards, which led to his jersey retirement.) But, with this said, under that policy, Vince Young would NOT have had his jersey retired because the Heisman during the 'Horns 2005 championship season went to Reggie Bush as a member of ESPN's alleged GREATEST BEST MOST AMAZINGEST TEAM TO EVER PLAY THE GAME OF FOOTBALL. (Prior to January 4th, 2006, at least.)

So, the announcement today may certainly spawn some more discussion, whether one agrees with it or not. And, if one wants to make a "head to head" case, the debate of Vince Young vs. Kevin Durant could be an interesting one. The case for VY is that he played three years at Texas, leading them to a 13-0 2005 season and their first national championship in decades. He won a variety of awards, but none with quite the prestige of the Heisman trophy. He also led Texas to two consecutive Rose Bowl victories, and was named the MVP of each game.

Kevin Durant played only one season at Texas. However, he swept the national player of the year awards and All-America recognition in leading Texas to the second round of the NCAA tournament before being bounced by USC. He finished top 5 nationally in scoring and rebounding, and led the Big 12 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

To this point, neither has graduated from school, though both are in the process of continuing their school work to earn their degree. Furthermore, their contributions to the game and the University can't completely be represented in stats, trophies or even dollar signs. Both are already making huge impact on current and future recruiting situations in basketball and football.

So, being such an avid fan, I've seen every game both guys played. In my opinion, both players unquestionably are of the "greatest ever" to lace up the cleats/ sneakers in Austin. I think most people have no issue with VY having his number retired, but have a little more of an issue with Durant only being here one year. However, if you got to see him play consistently, you knew he was a man among boys on the court. He accomplished things that were rarely, if ever, accomplished as a freshman in the NCAA. And, like Vince Young, he earned a reputation as a tireless worker off the court/ field, and one who had the ability to not only take his team on his shoulders when needed, but also make players around him better. I think it's fantastic that both guys are working to earn their degrees, and optimally they'll both graduate as Longhorns at some point in the future. Is that a necessity, in my opinion, in order to have their jersey retired? I don't necessarily think so. I think it trivializes the experience of college and higher education to assume that it's a waste of time if someone doesn't ultimately get that diploma to hang on the wall somewhere.

All in all, it makes me wonder- what do you all think should be the criteria for a player having his jersey number retired? Does that player have to play four years? Do they have to win any particular individual or team awards? Do they have to earn their degree? In professional leagues, what does a player have to accomplish? How long do they have to stay with a team in order to "earn" the opportunity to have their jersey retired? I'd like to hear your ideas. I'm not quite sure there is a concrete set of criteria. It may involve the "eye" test. As in, sometimes greatness isn't identified by numbers, but you know it when you see it. Feel free to leave your comments and questions in the comments section....