Retired Number

Retired Number

Retiring the number of an athlete is an honor a team bestows on a player, usually after the player has left the team or retires from the game. Once a number is retired, no future player from the team may use that number, unless the player so-honored permits it. Such an honor may also be bestowed on players who had highly memorable careers, have died prematurely under tragic circumstances, or have had their promising careers ended by serious injury. Some sports that retire team numbers include baseball, ice hockey, basketball, American football and association football. Retired jerseys are often referred to as "hanging from the rafters" as they are, literally, put to hang above the team's home arena.

The first number officially retired by a team in a professional sport was that of hockey player Lionel Hitchman, whose number 3 was retired by the Boston Bruins in 1934.