'Cuse me? Donovan McNabb peeved that university unretired No. 44

IT'S EASY TO say that Donovan McNabb is right. That Syracuse, his alma mater, has no business unretiring the No. 44, worn by Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little.

But it's a bit more complicated than it seems.

The school retired the number in November of 2005. Even hung an banner emblazoned with it hanging in the Carrier Dome.

Back then, the athletic director was Dr. Daryl Gross who said, "If there was ever a number that needed to be retired it is 44."

Fast-forward to 2013 when Little - then a special assistant to Gross - brought up the idea of bringing the number back saying, "I don't agree that it belongs in the rafters."

At that time, it was agreed that if Little and Brown (Davis died in 1963) were on board, the number could be reissued.

And that's what happened on Tuesday when interim AD Peter Sala announced, "With the blessing of Jim Brown and Floyd Little, the No. 44 is back."

That didn't sit well with McNabb, the former Eagles quarterback whose No. 5 is also retired by Syracuse.

"It bothers me to see the decision being made by my alma mater to [unretire] the legendary 44," McNabb tweeted. "Do u see other schools taking numbers down from the rafters for any reason at all? I think it is totally disrespectful to those who have worn it and for those who wore the mighty Blue and Orange."

On Wednesday, after quite a bit of negative feedback, including McNabb's response, Kevin Quinn, the university's senior vice president for public affairs issued a statement. The No. 44, he said, will only be issued in a "special circumstance" to "someone extraordinary given the honor it would be to wear 44."

So the school wants to make the number part of an ongoing tradition of excellence, while McNabb - who is a member of the university's board of trustees - fails to see the logic of unretiring retired numbers.

So, pick a side. You can't go wrong either way.