The number 24 was pretty much retired this year in the sports world. We lost 4 great athletes who wore the number proudly during the course of their career. Jeff Gordon, Marshawn Lynch, Charles Woodson and Kobe Bryant all retired this year leaving a huge hole to fill in for each of their spots. Jeff Gordon is a 4 time NASCAR champion and is 3rd all-time in wins behind only David Pearson and Richard Petty. Gordon’s career began in 1992 and was concluded in 2015, putting an end to a great 23 year career. Marshawn Lynch has been given the lovely nickname of “beast-mode.” It really is a shame that Lynch had to drop out this year because he honestly still is one of the best running backs in the league. Marshawn was always one of the hardest players to play against because of his aggression and his strength to push forward. Lynch will go down in history as one of the great power rushers of his era. If you don’t believe me, just ask the 2012 Saints if he was a great power rusher. Charles Woodson is just plain awesome to me. This guy is 39 years old and he retired the year after he finishes in the top 5 for interceptions. Woodson was in the 1998 draft along with another guy who retired this year (Peyton Manning). Woodson baffles me because he is ancient to most NFL safeties today, but he is still better than most of them. The moment I realized Woodson would go down as a legend was this past season. So Antonio Brown (27) catches the ball and takes off down the sideline. I couldn’t see any other player on my screen but him and then all of a sudden I see a guy in a Raiders jersey come out of nowhere and run him down. I’m thinking this is some young guy in his mid 20’s, but no it’s 39 year old Charles Woodson running down a 27 year old stud like Antonio Brown. Of course there’s still 1 guy that needs to be named and that man is the black mamba, Kobe Bryant. I wrote a tribute to Kobe Bryant yesterday so I’ll try to condense that article into a few sentences. The mamba is what I like to call Jordan 2.0, meaning he is not quite as good as Michael Jordan, but he is the closest thing we have ever seen to it, which is one of the best compliments you can receive. He holds numerous records and titles that would take too long to name, but he is in fact a legend.
Another 24 that will be retired this year is Ken Griffey Jr.’s jersey in Safeco Field. In august the Mariners legend will be the first player in franchise history to have his number retired.
So as you can see it was a sad year for all the 24’s, but I would like to say thank you for all the memories that you gave us.
Written by Kenny Quinn
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