The Detroit Lions held a special surprise ceremony at halftime of their game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. A jersey retirement ceremony was announced shortly after the team had gone to the locker room, and the crowd was left in suspense over which famous face from their past would be returning to receive the honor. As the team came back out of the tunnel, William Clay Ford, president of the Lions, called Jon Kitna up to the stage. "Jon, you have been with this team a few years now," said Ford. "You have had quite a season so far, throwing 5 interceptions in only 4 games, and getting us to a 17-0 deficit in only 1 half of football today. But, today we have made the decision to honor one of the great former Lions players, a punter who wore the number 8 back in 1972. I don't remember his name, but he was with us for almost half that season, and punted a pretty good ball. Not great, but nothing too horrible either. In the name of, whatever his name was, we are retiring the Lions number 8 jersey today!" Kitna looked stunned as team officials came over and stripped off his shirt, put it on a pulley, and began raising it into the rafters. Kitna grabbed the microphone and asked "But how will I play the second half without a jersey?" "Oh, I guess you won't be able to," said Ford. "In fact, now that your jersey is retired up there in the stadium, you are going to have to be retired too. That's the rule I'm afraid." "Can't I just get ...
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The Detroit Lions held a special surprise ceremony at halftime of their game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday. A jersey retirement ceremony was announced shortly after the team had gone to the locker room, and the crowd was left in suspense over which famous face from their past would be returning to receive the honor. As the team came back out of the tunnel, William Clay Ford, president of the Lions, called Jon Kitna up to the stage. "Jon, you have been with this team a few years now," said Ford. "You have had quite a season so far, throwing 5 interceptions in only 4 games, and getting us to a 17-0 deficit in only 1 half of football today. But, today we have made the decision to honor one of the great former Lions players, a punter who wore the number 8 back in 1972. I don't remember his name, but he was with us for almost half that season, and punted a pretty good ball. Not great, but nothing too horrible either. In the name of, whatever his name was, we are retiring the Lions number 8 jersey today!" Kitna looked stunned as team officials came over and stripped off his shirt, put it on a pulley, and began raising it into the rafters. Kitna grabbed the microphone and asked "But how will I play the second half without a jersey?" "Oh, I guess you won't be able to," said Ford. "In fact, now that your jersey is retired up there in the stadium, you are going to have to be retired too. That's the rule I'm afraid." "Can't I just get ...