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James White makes the case for Melvin Gordon, Jonathan Taylor to have numbers retired by Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin hasn't retired a football jersey number since 2007. Some of their former running backs think it's time.
Lorin Cox|
Apr 25, 2025; Green Bay, WI, USA; Former Wisconsin running backs Melvin Gordon, left, James White, center, and Montee Ball, right, make “W” gestures for the crowd before the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field.
Apr 25, 2025; Green Bay, WI, USA; Former Wisconsin running backs Melvin Gordon, left, James White, center, and Montee Ball, right, make “W” gestures for the crowd before the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field. | Tork Mason-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers football program hasn't retired a jersey number since 2007, when they honored Heisman trophy-winning running back Ron Dayne by hanging up his No. 33.

But now, a more recent crop of legendary Wisconsin running backs wants to see their numbers get the same honors.

Former Badgers James White, Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon and Jonathan Taylor were all guests on the Green Light podcast with Chris Long, and White spoke for the group about the desire to see more jersey numbers retired.

“These three right here, not me, definitely deserve to have their numbers retired," White said. "All have a special place in Wisconsin history."

The conversation came up when the group discussed the Colorado Buffaloes retiring the jersey numbers of quarterback Shadeur Sanders and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter before they entered the NFL Draft.

That prompted White to speak on behalf of his teammates and make the case for the Badgers to honor their own.

"We see Shedeur [Sanders] and Travis [Hunter] getting their stuff retired. We need to get to it," White said. "Literally the offense went through these dudes. The gameplan on defense was to stop 28, stop 25. That’s what it was.”

In the discussion, Taylor didn't speak up and advocate for his own number retirement, but Gordon was a little more vocal about his interest.

Both running backs said they weren't sure what the requirements were to get your jersey retired at Wisconsin, but both thought it might require winning the Heisman like Dayne.

That belief made it even more devastating for Gordon when he lost the Heisman race in 2014, because he thought it would be the fast-track to getting his number retired.

UW officials have said in the past that the program doesn't have a concrete set criteria that they use to evaluate what jersey numbers should be retired.

It's worth noting, the football program has not handed out a No. 72 jersey to any players since Joe Thomas became the third-overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, but his number is not officially retired.

Gordon said "we need to do something" and invited the school to "come on and talk to us" about finding away to honor the Badgers' elite running backs of his era.

He, Taylor and Ball may need to get in line with a number of other recent former players who are also deserving of the honor, like Thomas, JJ Watt and Lee Evans.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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