Ray's QB Notes 4: Randall's No. 12 retired?

(See QB Notes 1, QB Notes 2 and QB Notes 3).

I recently wrote about retired numbers and talked about Randall Cunningham’s No. 12. A reader noted that no Eagle had worn the number since Cunningham and asked if it was formally retired (see story).

The answer is no. The Eagles have retired seven numbers; it will be eight when they retire No. 20 in honor of Brian Dawkins this season. I pointed out No. 12 was worn in the 2000 preseason by a rookie quarterback, Travis Brown, so I did not think it was retired, either officially or unofficially.

James Siegfried, who worked in the Eagles' equipment room, corrected me. He said the No. 12 is unofficially retired. He said one of his duties was issuing jerseys to rookies and he was told not to issue the No. 12 out of respect to Cunningham.

In the case of Brown, Siegfried said the rookie was given the number for training camp, but if he actually made the team (highly unlikely) he would have been given a different number for the regular season. The No. 12 would have gone back on the shelf.

Thanks for the clarification, James.

E-mail Ray Didinger at viewfromthehall@comcast.net