Should Carolina Retire Steve Smith's Jersey

[1of10Charnatives]

23 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Let me preface by saying I think Smitty was a great player and will be in the HOF.

 

But the question I have is what does a retired Jersey represent as a Panther.  If it is a great player, team mate and person you want representing the values of the team then Smitty shouldn't have his Jersey retired.  

 

If it is just for his heart fire and playing of the game then yes.  But can you look over his actions with teammates?  

Interesting point, and one that I think merits some consideration. For all his prowess on the field, 89’s actions towards his teammates were not always of the highest character.  I would be particularly interested to know what his teammates might have to say about whether they felt his jersey should be retired and whether they felt his conduct in those incidents should count against him when considering it.

[Khyber53]

Who is going to be foolish enough to ask for the number? The shoes are just too big to fill.

And he deserves it. Doing so would set the tone that we are here to compete and fight it out, no matter how small or unknown we were when we began.

[frash.exe]

2 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Let me preface by saying I think Smitty was a great player and will be in the HOF.

 

But the question I have is what does a retired Jersey represent as a Panther.  If it is a great player, team mate and person you want representing the values of the team then Smitty shouldn't have his Jersey retired.  

 

If it is just for his heart fire and playing of the game then yes.  But can you look over his actions with teammates?  

steve smith fanatics will never look past his stats or his highlight reel and acknowledge the damage he did in the locker room for many years. it’s all about that glamour catch or that all-time receiving ranking. 

[TheRed]

2 minutes ago, frash.exe said:

steve smith fanatics will never look past his stats or his highlight reel and acknowledge the damage he did in the locker room for many years. it’s all about that glamour catch or that all-time receiving ranking. 

What's ironic is this irrational grudge you are still carrying for Steve Smith all these years later is no different than the disdain some Panthers fans hold for Dave Gettleman. Which you have been more than eager to point out on numerous occasions.

You need to let it go.

[Bronn]

It should have been retired a long time ago.

First Ballot HOF, WR GOAT IDGAF.

[Bronn]

5 minutes ago, frash.exe said:

steve smith fanatics will never look past his stats or his highlight reel and acknowledge the damage he did in the locker room for many years. it’s all about that glamour catch or that all-time receiving ranking. 

...and the haters will never look past the locker room incidents and see the good he did on the field for the franchise, and off the field, for the community, because they want to carry this irrational hate for something that Smitty and everyone else involved have clearly moved past/gotten over.

[frash.exe]

9 minutes ago, TheRed said:

What's ironic is this irrational grudge you are still carrying for Steve Smith all these years later is no different than the disdain some Panthers fans hold for Dave Gettleman. Which you have been more than eager to point out on numerous occasions.

You need to let it go.

i’m irrational bc i take his rap sheet seriously? he had a reputation for alpha male antics and it’s been well documented. i don’t see anybody here demanding a statue for gettleman either. wtf is ironic about this or are you just having another ugly cry about one of my opinions that you can’t handle?

[The Huddler]

13 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Nothing specifically against Smith, but fans always want to retire Jerseys. Heck, the guys on the radio today were wanting to retire about four or five of them.

It's the kind of thing that honestly should be really really hard to attain, not the kind of honor you should give out frequently.

man you really like being the contrarian 

[TheRed]

2 minutes ago, frash.exe said:

i’m irrational bc i take his rap sheet seriously? he had a reputation for alpha male antics and it’s been well documented. i don’t see anybody here demanding a statue for gettleman either. wtf is ironic about this or are you just having another ugly cry about one of my opinions that you can’t handle?

The Ken Lucas stuff was 12 years ago.

Are you planning on still flailing about it 20 more years from now? At this point that's what you're going to be doing.

[frash.exe]

8 minutes ago, Bronn said:

...and the haters will never look past the locker room incidents and see the good he did on the field for the franchise, and off the field, for the community, because they want to carry this irrational hate for something that Smitty and everyone else involved have clearly moved past/gotten over.

i’m positive smitty doesn’t give a single fug about you or me or thered or anybody else individually. over the years we’ve heard countless stories of him punching players, being a dick to players wearing the same jersey, being a dick to fans, being a dick to coaches, he threatened a former teammate in front of their family. i don’t consider him to be a generally good person. the only reason he pulled this latest stunt with the helmet is a little nudge to the franchise to give him one of the highest honors to fluff his ego some more.

[Bronn]

2 minutes ago, frash.exe said:

i’m positive smitty doesn’t give a single fug about you or me or thered or anybody else individually. over the years we’ve heard countless stories of him punching players, being a dick to players wearing the same jersey, being a dick to fans, being a dick to coaches, he threatened a former teammate in front of their family. i don’t consider him to be a generally good person. the only reason he pulled this latest stunt with the helmet is a little nudge to the franchise to give him one of the highest honors to fluff his ego some more.

I think you're being pessimistic about it because it suits your bias, but there are a lot of stories about the good things he does too. He's also admitted and been very public about depression, etc. since he's left football. How long does someone have to atone for their wrongdoings before they are forgotten?

I'm not naive enough to think that someone of the good he's done isn't for the PR. But I also can't cast stones at someone who was clearly suffering internal conflict at the times of these incidents either.

[Bronn]

Also, it is possible to care about people that you perceive to not care about you.

[frash.exe]

5 minutes ago, TheRed said:

The Ken Lucas stuff was 12 years ago.

Are you planning on still flailing about it 20 more years from now? At this point that's what you're going to be doing.

the ken lucas incident was arguably the single biggest jerkass steve moment but even if you take it at face value and nothing more then it’s still a microcosm of steve making the panthers organization his bitch for almost 20 years. and he goes off on a public tirade when everyone was tired of his poo, basically disowns the panthers, plays as a raven for a few years, and now he decides he’s changed his mind and publicly announces he’s ok with the panthers now and if they wanna get on that jersey retiring thing and a statue as soon as possible? nah. 

[lightsout]

I'm saying yes. Imagine ANYBODY in GB wearing #4 ever again. Now imagine any receiver ever wearing #89 in Carolina. Both just make me uncomfortable even thinking about.