Tag Archives: single-digit tradition

12.10.23
by

Single digits=Single bullet for shooting self in foot

There are a lot of ridiculous things about the transfer portal but this one has hit home bad over the last five years.

Why does Temple continually shoot itself in the foot with single digits in the era of the transfer portal?

Enough is enough.

Temple TUFF is supposed to be a Temple thing.

Yet every year Temple guys with single digits hit the transfer portal. This year it was No. 3 E.J. Warner (and maybe Alex Odom (No. 0), although we hear he might be done with football in general. Edward Saydee (No. 2) also hit the portal.

Last year it was No. 9 Darian Varner.

On the first day of spring classes in 2021, Christian Braswell took his single digit number and skipped town for what he hoped would be greener pastures.

The then No. 2 took a No. 2 all over a Temple football tradition, the single-digit number.

Braswell wasn’t the first single-digit Owl to leave but he should have been the last.

Let’s give E.J. that honor.

The way to do that would simply be to tweak the rules and reward single digits only to seniors in the summer camp prior to their last seasons.

Four years ago, Quincy Roche took his No. 9 to Miami.

Braswell took his No. 2 to Rutgers, joining another single-digit, No. 8 Isaiah Graham-Mobley, who took his to Boston College.

Head coach Stan Drayton can and should end all of this now.

Unlike the transfer portal and the NIL, this is a problem that has a solution.

To me, there’s a lot to be said for the single-digit tradition but loyalty should be valued as much as toughness. There’s something annoying about watching a Miami game and hearing several times that “Roche is so tough, he earned the Temple single digit as an underclassmen.”

Same for Braswell. Same for IGM.

Did not see Varner play a down for Wisconsin but heard he did not play many.

Matt Ioannidis (left) and Tyler Matakevich were two of the most loyal single digits in Temple history

When you think about it, it’s a slap in the face to Temple that someone like that plays for someone else.

That should remain a Temple staple and the only way to do it under this present college football environment is to reserve it for seniors who have stuck with the program for their entire careers.

Reserve the single digit for Temple seniors so that no Temple single-digit guy ever plays for anyone else.

It’s the least Drayton can do.

Friday: 2024 Temple Success Depends on It