His Jersey Needs Retired #39

[Robocop]

Let's don't get carried away here, Robocop.

I'm a big SJ fan, too. But c'mon...

Here are the Rams players whose numbers have been retired:

Bob Waterfield
Merlin Olsen
Deacon Jones
Jack Youngblood
Eric Dickerson

Steven Jackson never achieved their level of accomplishment and dominance. Not even close. Sorry...

A retired jersey should only be for the most elite. The rarest of the rare, IMO.

so are Bruce and Faulk. Jackson's numbers would have been astronomical with those teams. He's numbers the years he was here were the best any other RB could do with that Rams team 10,000 yards every year after his rookie. He was the captain of that offense, the only man to turn to. His tenure should be remembered if not for holding him back from what he could've been.

 

[Barrison]

The most non team player....... really?

I'm not sure he should have his number retired, I don't know that there is enough on his resume for that honor, but I don't think you could find five people who would say he was what you just called him.

That was kinda horrible and he doesn't deserve it IMO. In fact if I had a son and he had to date lived the same life Jackson has I'd be pretty effing proud and would be bragging about him.

B.S. Jackson parted mutually with the team, he wanted to see if he could play for a contender before he's done. why would he play for a losing team that long if he was selfish. He still wouldve been splitting carries anywhere else he went. If he didn't love st. louis he wouldnt have stayed until he was 30. so does that mean you dont think any ofther greatest show on turf jerseys should be up there because they also left?

If he's such a great team player why did he have beef while Marshall was still in town? I realize the guy carried our terrible team through some ridiculously tough times and never publicly complained about it but when we got a coach that knew how to run a team and came up with the idea of going with a back by committee approach instead of just Jackson he wasn't having it. I mean if winning was truly that important to the guy don't you think he would of stuck it out, instead of being able to be the "workhorse" back and work together as a TEAM and make it harder for the opponent with a multi-back approach?

EDIT: Don't get me wrong I loved Jack when he was here but if he was a team player he would of agreed with Fish that the committee approach was the best thing for the team and could've made SJ39 more effective.

 

[Yamahopper]

Even though a couple of those bad years with out him the Rams might have been winless, I think the question should wait ten years then see how everyone feels then.

 

[mr.stlouis]

Ring of honor at a minimum. He is our all time leading rusher and the lone bright spot of The Dark Ages

 

[Boffo97]

If he's such a great team player why did he have beef while Marshall was still in town? I realize the guy carried our terrible team through some ridiculously tough times and never publicly complained about it but when we got a coach that knew how to run a team and came up with the idea of going with a back by committee approach instead of just Jackson he wasn't having it. I mean if winning was truly that important to the guy don't you think he would of stuck it out, instead of being able to be the "workhorse" back and work together as a TEAM and make it harder for the opponent with a multi-back approach?

EDIT: Don't get me wrong I loved Jack when he was here but if he was a team player he would of agreed with Fish that the committee approach was the best thing for the team and could've made SJ39 more effective.

It's the same answer why there was friction with Marshall, and why he didn't want to be part of a committee approach... the guy is competitive and thinks he can be THE guy. And for most of his career, he was precisely right about that.

You can be a team player without having to agree with everything the team does.

 

[Barrison]

It's the same answer why there was friction with Marshall, and why he didn't want to be part of a committee approach... the guy is competitive and thinks he can be THE guy. And for most of his career, he was precisely right about that.

You can be a team player without having to agree with everything the team does.

But then you're not doing everything to help the team and reach the ultimate goal of winning, just my 2 cents.

 

[Boffo97]

But then you're not doing everything to help the team and reach the ultimate goal of winning, just my 2 cents.

Sure you are. You just have a slightly different opinion of what the best way to go about that is.

Frankly, Jackson stayed with us through so much suckiness when he could have gone to a lot of other teams and been the final cog in a Super Bowl winner that I just can't bring myself to question him just because he didn't want to be part of a committee.

You disagree, and that's fine.

 

[Barrison]

Sure you are. You just have a slightly different opinion of what the best way to go about that is.

Frankly, Jackson stayed with us through so much suckiness when he could have gone to a lot of other teams and been the final cog in a Super Bowl winner that I just can't bring myself to question him just because he didn't want to be part of a committee.

You disagree, and that's fine.

Who knows if other teams were willing to pay what we were paying, he was being paid handsomely to stay with us. And IMO to be 'the guy' in this league you need a wider skill set than what Jack had, for example AP, Lynch, Charles, etc. There were so many times on a 4th and 1 SJ39 would bounce back and forth, almost indecisive on which hole to hit and as a power guy that should be your specialty. If he could just let go of his ego and would of played a part in the way Fisher wants to have his RB's, he'd have his ring with his original team, cuz he sure as shit ain't getting it with the Falcons!

 

[Boffo97]

Who knows if other teams were willing to pay what we were paying, he was being paid handsomely to stay with us. And IMO to be 'the guy' in this league you need a wider skill set than what Jack had, for example AP, Lynch, Charles, etc. There were so many times on a 4th and 1 SJ39 would bounce back and forth, almost indecisive on which hole to hit and as a power guy that should be your specialty. If he could just let go of his ego and would of played a part in the way Fisher wants to have his RB's, he'd have his ring with his original team, cuz he sure as crap ain't getting it with the Falcons!

As to the pay, Jackson's contract in that last year he voided was going to be $7 million, but there's no way the Rams wouldn't have cut him if he insisted on that. His contract with the Falcons was 3 years, $12 million with $3.5 million signing bonus. Would he have matched that with the Rams? Don't know. I'd guess probably not.

The rest of your argument is self contradictory. You're essentially saying he isn't very good then say he'd have more success here.

It's not some grand scheme in how Fisher (a defensive guy) wants his RBs. He just thought that with Steven's age, he'd work better in a committee and Steven disagreed. At this stage of his career both with his age and the beating he's taken, he's probably not going to win a Super Bowl with anyone, but he had opportunities to leave earlier and passed them up. So to me, his team loyalty isn't in question.

 

[blue4]

Who knows if other teams were willing to pay what we were paying, he was being paid handsomely to stay with us. And IMO to be 'the guy' in this league you need a wider skill set than what Jack had, for example AP, Lynch, Charles, etc. There were so many times on a 4th and 1 SJ39 would bounce back and forth, almost indecisive on which hole to hit and as a power guy that should be your specialty. If he could just let go of his ego and would of played a part in the way Fisher wants to have his RB's, he'd have his ring with his original team, cuz he sure as crap ain't getting it with the Falcons!

Steven Jackson was one of the most well rounded RBs in the NFL. There are far more times he smashed his way thru pathetic holes opened by scrub players, or caught a third down pass then getting stopped on 4th. I don't ever remember him getting stopped in short yardage were he had anything resembling a running lane. This reminds me of the criticism Bulger used to take for not winning games while his head was being driven into the ground on every other dropback. Sometimes I wonder if either myself or other people are watching an alternate reality Rams team.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Jackson deserves to be honoured in some fashion. Ring of honour. Statue. Something!

But retiring numbers is something I'm not very fond of. There are only so many!

Here's another idea; week 13 when we clinch the division... Let's trade for Jackson and let him ride with us to the Superbowl.

 

[Philly5]

Keep retiring numbers something special. Appreciated what SJax did under the lousy circumstances, but that is not enough. Having him retire as a Ram or an SJax day would be great.

 

[shaunpinney]

I'm not a big fan of retiring numbers - I get it if there is a career ram, someone like Bob Waterfield Jackie Slater etc or who's central to a great season and a big SB win, but I don't get it for just being good at your position.

I love SJax and was gutted when he went, but you know what, apart from a couple of the early games last season I've never once thought "If only we had SJax on the field"

But no matter how much I like and respect SJax - he's not in the same breath as Dickerson, Faulk, Bruce etc...

 

[Mister Sin]

I agree with the ring of honor. He isn't going to make he HOF, his number should stay. I don't think a player should wear if for a few years just as a sign of respect. He was so great for us. I just do t think he was retired number great

 

[LesBaker]

If he's such a great team player why did he have beef while Marshall was still in town? I realize the guy carried our terrible team through some ridiculously tough times and never publicly complained about it but when we got a coach that knew how to run a team and came up with the idea of going with a back by committee approach instead of just Jackson he wasn't having it. I mean if winning was truly that important to the guy don't you think he would of stuck it out, instead of being able to be the "workhorse" back and work together as a TEAM and make it harder for the opponent with a multi-back approach?

EDIT: Don't get me wrong I loved Jack when he was here but if he was a team player he would of agreed with Fish that the committee approach was the best thing for the team and could've made SJ39 more effective.

Mostly Jackson wasn't the one with the issue. It's no secret that Faulk didn't like him and didn't do anything to help him when he came into the league.

 

[LetsGoRams]

Another thing to keep in mind regarding retired numbers... I'm sure you can only have so many. How many players go to training camp? 90? So if you have 8 of them already retired, that leaves you only room for two more numbers to be retired. We all would like to see our favorite players' numbers retired, but you wouldn't have enough jerseys to go around if you did!

 

[blue4]

Marshall Faulk IMO was the single greatest player in St. Louis Rams history. Maybe all of the Rams history. But he was also known to be a douche at times. And that's all I'll say about that.

 

[blue4]

Another thing to keep in mind regarding retired numbers... I'm sure you can only have so many. How many players go to training camp? 90? So if you have 8 of them already retired, that leaves you only room for two more numbers to be retired. We all would like to see our favorite players' numbers retired, but you wouldn't have enough jerseys to go around if you did!

It'd be like bingo. "Now entering the field, number G10!"

 

[LesBaker]

Also I believe the Rams have a policy that they do not retire a number unless the player has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

So 39 won't be retired.

 

[Faceplant]

No chance that # gets retired. Ring of honor for SJ. I have to say that I was never a huge SJ fan for some reason. Might have something to do with his ego. I think there were a couple of reasons he stayed with the Rams as long as he did. For one, he was the ONLY fish in a shallow pond and I think he enjoyed the spoils that come with being the teams only real star. Also, he was a "bell cow" here at a time when most of the league was moving to a backfield by committee approach. Someone mentioned that he would have put up ridiculous #'s in that GSOT offense, but I don't see that. His skill set (hop, skip, hit the hole or the back of a lineman) would have been useless in a Martz offense. Marshall Faulk was the catalyst for that offense, and no one else on the planet could do what that cat did. Marshall = GOAT. SJ = MJD. JMO.