The Dallas Cowboys handed CeeDee Lamb No. 88, which begs the question, If the number is so cherished why not just retire it?
The answer is detailed and historic. No. 88 is also quite close to Jerry Jones’ heart.
With time on our hands, I emailed longtime Dallas Cowboys public relations director Rich Dalrymple why they have not retired 88, or any jersey number.
Dalrymple wrote, “It’s complicated, however the pandemic gives me the time to give a good and informative answer.”
Drew Pearson is the Cowboys’ original 88. Michael Irvin made 88 more significant, while Dez Bryant’s X’s added to its legacy.
“For the record, the Cowboys are one of the few — if only — NFL teams that have never officially retired a jersey number,” Dalrymple said.
For the record, nearly all of the information you see here comes from RD. I owe him a six-pack for essentially writing this column.
“You will not be able to find any record of a number being officially retired by the club, and we don’t have a ‘Retired Numbers’ page in our media guide,” he said.
Only the extensive list of Hall of Famers and Ring of Honor players are listed in the Cowboys’ book.
“Having said that, there are a few numbers that have not been issued since they have been worn be prominent players in franchise history. (Late team president) Tex Schramm’s vision was to have the Ring of Honor in lieu of having a whole bunch of retired jerseys,” Dalrymple said.
“Hence, you wound up with great players sharing great numbers that crossed over into different eras; 54 was Chuck Howley and Randy White; 88 was Drew Pearson and Michael Irvin; 22 was Bob Hayes and Emmitt Smith; 94 was Charles Haley and DeMarcus Ware.
“The numbers that you don’t see any more are 8, 12, 22 and 74.”
Those belong to, in order, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith and Bob Lilly.
“The reason that you continued to see 88 in circulation through the years is because of jersey number restrictions that were put in place at some point in the early 1980’s. Basically, all receivers and tight ends numbers — for several years — had to be between 80 and 89,” Dalrymple said.
The problem came when a team carried too many tight ends and wide receivers and ran out of eligible numbers. The receivers could only wear between 80 and 89, while other position groups had a larger pool of numbers from which to choose.
When Irvin joined the NFL in 1988, famous receivers such as Lance Alworth (19), Harold Carmichael (17) had worn numbers other than ones in the 80s. Dalrymple figures the league widened the range for receiver numbers around the time Keyshawn Johnson entered the NFL in 1996.
Key was a 19-guy. Since then many prominent receivers have worn teen jerseys.
Irvin’s number in college at Miami was 47. Even if Irvin wanted 47 after the Cowboys drafted him in the first round in 1988, the NFL would not permit it.
“I believe that Tex Schramm wanted to jazz up Irvin’s selection a little by giving him the 88 jersey that was made famous by Drew Pearson,” Dalrymple said. “Irvin was just the second wide receiver ever drafted in the first round by the Cowboys in club history to that point, and the flashy kid from the University of Miami seemed more than a qualified candidate to pass on the legacy of being a celebrity star wide receiver for the Cowboys.”
Irvin retired after the 1999 season.
The Cowboys selected moody Pitt star receiver Antonio Bryant in 2002, and they gave him 88. Despite his talent, he could not get around the fact he was a dummy.
He lasted two years before the Cowboys dumped him.
The Cowboys selected Dez Bryant in the first round in 2010, and he wore 88 for the next eight years.
Now 88 will be worn by CeeDee.
“As fate would have it, we recently learned of another member of the 88 club who was near and dear to Jerry Jones’ heart. The star wide receiver for the 1964 Arkansas Razorbacks national championship team that Jones played on wore No. 88, and his name was Jerry Lamb.
“He was one of Jerry Jones’ oldest and best friends in the world, attended nearly every home Cowboys game since Jerry bought the team, and he passed away late in December. He was eulogized by Jerry Jones. One Lamb moves on and another enters the picture.”
There is a new Eight-Eight, and it’s a Cee-Dee.
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