Eric Berry - retire this legends number

[VFL 24/7]

I was casually scrolling through twitter and saw a great video from Inky Johnson who was interviewing Eric Berry on his podcast. Tennessee needs to retire this mans number asap. He is the ultimate warrior - beating cancer - coming back and still being a pro bowl caliber player. He was the best defensive player I have personally ever witnessed at Tennessee. Eric Berry represented our university with pure class while on campus, and in his professional career. He is my favorite VOL of all time. Eric Berry is the definition of a Tennessee Volunteer, and he honestly isn't talked about enough.

 

[butchna]

Seconded!

 

[GAVol]

Good guy. Great player. Great family. But retiring numbers is way overdone IMO.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

Good guy. Great player. Great family. But retiring numbers is way overdone IMO.

teams are running out of numbers these days

 

[VFL 24/7]

Good guy. Great player. Great family. But retiring numbers is way overdone IMO.

Retiring his number isn't out of pity. His career and performance in college and the NFL is deserving.

 

[orangefloyd]

I would put his name up there in the ring of honor.

 

[lukeneyland]

I love him but I generally am against retiring numbers. For anyone. I think they should be saved for players who earned them though

 

[1982Alum]

Good guy. Great player. Great family. But retiring numbers is way overdone IMO.

Agree 100%. Put names in Rings of Honor but the number thing is ridiculous.

 

[IndianaVol]

Agree with most others here with a little twist - put his name AND number in the ring of honor.
That 'honored' number becomes a rolling award for an individual each year given out by players and coaches to a person that exhibits the traits that got the name/number honored in the first place.

Retired numbers need to be saved for those that either gave the ultimate sacrifice while at UT (i.e. Nowling, Klarer, Tucker, and Fuson) or achieved some accomplishment or level of dominance that will likely never be reached again (i.e, White, Manning, Atkins, Majors).

 

[Brave Volunteer]

He left early. The requirement is that the player has to be here all 4 years.

 

[Caspian]

Agree 100%. Put names in Rings of Honor but the number thing is ridiculous.

If we keep retiring numbers long enough, in about 200 years there will be no more numbers left. They will have to go to 3 digits for current players.

 

[VFL 24/7]

Fine guys- I guess my main point is we should honor him more than we have.

 

[IndianaVol]

Fine you cucks- I guess my main point is we should honor him more than we have.

Totally agree - he's one of the ones that we don't honor or recognize often enough.
I personally think Dobbs, Wilson, and Witten fit in that category too.

 

[JRich]

I mean, he won the Jim Thorpe award, so yeah.

 

[tnvolfan16]

if you look at the criteria, he qualifies by meeting three of the categories: SEC Player of the Year, Jim Thorpe Award, First Team All American, and you could probably include Int. Return Yards

 

[eaglevol]

if you look at the criteria, he qualifies by meeting three of the categories: SEC Player of the Year, Jim Thorpe Award, First Team All American, and you could probably include Int. Return Yards

Criteria also requires meeting three of four criteria in the pros as well:
NFL Hall of Fame
NFL Offensive or Defensive MVP
Pro Bowl Status in 5 seasons
Holder of a major career or season statistical record

 

[TNHopeful505]

I think it's a huge mistake that he isn't on a roster right now. No reason a team like Dallas couldn't give him a 1 year prove it contract.

 

[VolForLife83]

I love him but I generally am against retiring numbers. For anyone. I think they should be saved for players who earned them though

Right, some kids want to go to a school and wear their idols number

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Plus by not retiring numbers you might see fewer duplicates on both sides of the ball, which annoys me.

 

[utvolpj]

There should be 4 retired numbers. Retire a jersey/ring of honor/etc

27 goes before 14 anyways imo

 

[tnvolfan16]

Criteria also requires meeting three of four criteria in the pros as well:
NFL Hall of Fame
NFL Offensive or Defensive MVP
Pro Bowl Status in 5 seasons
Holder of a major career or season statistical record

i looked at the criteria and it says nothing about pro stats. here is the website: Tennessee Retired Jerseys

 

[Kinglberry]

Umm. No.

 

[GetEmVols]

I was casually scrolling through twitter and saw a great video from Inky Johnson who was interviewing Eric Berry on his podcast. Tennessee needs to retire this mans number asap. He is the ultimate warrior - beating cancer - coming back and still being a pro bowl caliber player. He was the best defensive player I have personally ever witnessed at Tennessee. Eric Berry represented our university with pure class while on campus, and in his professional career. He is my favorite VOL of all time. Eric Berry is the definition of a Tennessee Volunteer, and he honestly isn't talked about enough.

He didn’t play 4 years. I’d retire inky Johnson’s jersey before Eric berry. Inky gave his life for the T

 

[eaglevol]

i looked at the criteria and it says nothing about pro stats. here is the website: Tennessee Retired Jerseys

This is the article I was going by and I guess it is possible that they have changed the criteria since this was the rule.

Tennessee Football & Basketball Retired Number Criteria

 

[imw8n4u]