Former Dallas Cowboys star wide receiver Michael Irvin had choice words on the Come and Talk 2 Me podcast about why he hasn't retired his illustrious No. 88, which star WR CeeDee Lamb now wears. 

“I’m baffled, why would you want your jersey retired?” Irvin said. “I don’t understand people. When they retire your jersey they put it in the rafters. The only time they talk about it is when you leave time and you go to eternity, and they’ll take the camera off the game and say, ‘We lost Michael,’ back to the game… that’s all you get.”

Irvin’s former Cowboy Super Bowl teammates Troy Aikman (No. 8) and Emmitt Smith (No. 22) both have their jersey numbers retired by the Cowboys. While their respective numbers are in the rafters, Irvin has a different approach. He says he likes that the next star wide receiver of the Cowboys to keep the tradition alive by wearing his No. 88 jersey that he made famous in Dallas.

Why does Michael Irvin let Cowboys CeeDee Lamb wear No. 88?

Michael-Irvin-on-why-he-lets-CeeDee-Lamb-wear-#88 9/3/24
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Irvin wanted to leave a legacy for his number and football as a whole. In his 12 seasons with the Cowboys, he made his hall-of-fame case be heard. A career stat line of 750 receptions, for 11,904 yards and 65 touchdowns is beyond impressive for any receiver to accomplish in their career. When Irvin retired after the 1999 season, No. 88 was still up for the taking.

Fast forward to 2010 and the first man up to the challenge of wearing No. 88 was Dez Bryant. From 2012-14, he was on track to be as good as Irvin. During that three-year stretch, Bryant had at least 1,200 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in each of those seasons. In 2014, he ended up being named to the NFL all-pro team. 

While Dez Bryant fell short of living up to Irvin’s Cowboys career, CeeDee Lamb still has a chance. The former Oklahoma Sooner had his best season in 2023 with a league-leading 135 receptions, 1,749 yards, and 12 touchdowns. Lamb wanted to pursue Irvin's records throughout that season. Regardless of how Lamb performs, Irvin is comfortable with leaving his former number for anyone.

“Now when I leave that jersey on that 88’s back, man I get my flowers every Sunday,” Irvin said. “If he catches a pass they say ‘he looks like Mike Irvin.' If he drops it they say ‘Mike Irvin wouldn’t have dropped that', see what I’m saying. Every Sunday I’m getting my flowers. I don’t understand why would you want your jersey retired if you get flowers every Sunday on the field.”