April 9, 201312 yr comment_119899 Cant say im too happy about that Why? doesnt bother me a bit. The only numbers I find imposing are 34 and 51. Otherwise I could care less. Report
April 9, 201312 yr comment_119907 Non-issue as far as I'm concerned. 50 isn't retired. The organization should have showed some class and retired Samurai's #50 years ago....its upsetting to me and should be to every other Bears fan. Report
April 9, 201312 yr comment_119908 Anderson said he would ask Singletary's permission to wear #50 as there is no other number left in the 50's to use. At this point it would be worse if he was wearing #54, but that may be what Te'o wears after he is drafted at 20. Anderson (50) Butkus (51) Costanzo (52) Williams (53) Te'o (54) Briggs (55) Hewitt (56) DiCicco (57) Franklin (58) Trahan (59) Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119912 The organization should have showed some class and retired Samurai's #50 years ago....its upsetting to me and should be to every other Bears fan. Didn't the NFL tell the Bears year's ago to stop retiring jersey #'s because they already had retired so many? Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119913 Anderson said he would ask Singletary's permission to wear #50 as there is no other number left in the 50's to use. At this point it would be worse if he was wearing #54, but that may be what Te'o wears after he is drafted at 20. Anderson (50) Butkus (51) Costanzo (52) Williams (53) Te'o (54) Briggs (55) Hewitt (56) DiCicco (57) Franklin (58) Trahan (59) I agree that it is tacky to allow Anderson to wear the jersey, I am glad to hear he was going to "ask permission". But truth be told, half of the numbers listed above will be available as the team isn't going to be carrying that many LB's into the start of the season. IE: Trahan, DiCicco (esp if the team drafts an LB in the early rounds) and Franklin - who is he? And as a side note there are other numbers available. Believe Hunter Hillenmeyer wore 92 when he was with the team. Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119914 I believe I saw somewhere that George McCaskey asked samurai if they could start using it again and he said he didn't mind. We have to many others that could and should be retired like #99 for Dan Hampton and #89 for ditka. Sooner or later your gonna run into a problem Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119919 I believe I saw somewhere that George McCaskey asked samurai if they could start using it again and he said he didn't mind. We have to many others that could and should be retired like #99 for Dan Hampton and #89 for ditka. Sooner or later your gonna run into a problem Your right he called Mike and Mike said he would rather see someone wear then it hanging in a window somewhere. Anderson stated he was not aware it was availabale but with who wore it he would everything in his power to live up to the tradition that the number represents. Chicagobears.com A Bears player will wear No. 50 this season for the first time since Mike Singletary retired in 1992, and that's just fine with the Hall of Fame middle linebacker. The number was never retired, but the Bears have not issued it since Singletary concluded his illustrious 12-year career with the team. They brought it back this season because the NFL requires all linebackers to wear numbers in the 50s or 90s and the Bears already have two of those retired: No. 51 for Dick Butkus and No. 56 for Bill Hewitt. Hall of Famer Mike Singletary was voted to a Bears-record 10 Pro Bowls. "I talked to Mike Singletary and told him that we hadn't assigned 50 to anybody since he retired and that we needed to put it back in circulation," said Bears chairman George H. McCaskey. "He said he wasn't aware that it hadn't been assigned, that he's got no problem with it, and he's perfectly fine with it. In fact, he would prefer that it be assigned to somebody. He said, 'I'd rather somebody wear it than see it hanging it up in a window somewhere.'" The number will be worn this season by linebacker James Anderson, a veteran free-agent acquisition who donned No. 50 the past seven years with the Carolina Panthers. "There's a lot of history behind this number with the Bears and I'm honored and blessed that they would even consider letting me wear it," Anderson said. "I'm going to do everything I can to honor the tradition by going out every day and every game and giving it all I've got." Anderson did not know that No. 50 had not been issued by the Bears since Singletary retired. "I had no idea," he said. "They asked me whether I would like it if it was available and I said sure. I have a lot of history myself with that number." Anderson appeared in 94 games with 53 starts for the Panthers, recording 432 tackles, eight sacks, seven fumble recoveries, five forced fumbles, three interceptions and 20 pass breakups. He started 44 games at strongside linebacker, eight at weakside and one in the middle. Anderson was a regular starter each of the past three seasons. His 94 games played are the most by a linebacker in Panthers history. On Sept. 20, 2012, he set a Carolina single-game record with 20 tackles in a loss to the Giants. Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119921 I agree that it is tacky to allow Anderson to wear the jersey, I am glad to hear he was going to "ask permission". But truth be told, half of the numbers listed above will be available as the team isn't going to be carrying that many LB's into the start of the season. IE: Trahan, DiCicco (esp if the team drafts an LB in the early rounds) and Franklin - who is he? And as a side note there are other numbers available. Believe Hunter Hillenmeyer wore 92 when he was with the team. I was gonna say that too. At least 3 of those guys will be gone. Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119970 I hate to see anyone wear it, but if Singletary is fine with it I cannot see why anyone else would have a problem...good for Anderson for having the respect to speak to him as well. Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119994 I hate to see anyone wear it, but if Singletary is fine with it I cannot see why anyone else would have a problem...good for Anderson for having the respect to speak to him as well. Anderson (50)= Starter Butkus (51)=Retired Costanzo (52)= ST Williams (53)= Starter Te'o (54) =open but not fof Te'o Briggs (55)= Starter Hewitt (56)=Retired DiCicco (57)=ST Franklin (58)= cut Trahan (59)= cut Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119996 I'm not really into the whole jersey retiring thing anyways. Let players wear whatever number they want and let the history take care of itself. Singeltary's number isn't even retired. Shea McCellin is wearing Dan Hampton's old number. Did they put a call into him as well? Just seems odd. Report
April 10, 201312 yr comment_119997 I'm not really into the whole jersey retiring thing anyways. Let players wear whatever number they want and let the history take care of itself. Singeltary's number isn't even retired. Shea McCellin is wearing Dan Hampton's old number. Did they put a call into him as well? Just seems odd. When a team starts training camp with what, 80+ players on its roster, and has 100 numbers to hand out, it's hard to retire numbers. Report
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