Jim Brown on Syracuse unretiring No. 44: 'I didn't exactly endorse it, I just didn't complain'

Jim Brown was not exactly in favor of Syracuse bringing his number back to the field.

"I didn't exactly endorse it. I just didn't complain," said Brown of the unretiring of No. 44 while on Fox Sports Radio's "Rich Eisen Show."

Orange interim director of athletics Pete Sala had said last month that the school had Brown's blessing and the blessing of Floyd Little, who also wore the number, to reissue the number. Brown, a Hall of Famer, revealed that the school did not talk to him before announcing the decision to bring back No. 44, which was retired in 2005.

"I didn't talk to anyone before they decided to do it, so they couldn't have my blessings," Brown explained.

After backlash from former quarterback Donovan McNabb, Syracuse changed its tune about the number, stating that it will only be worn under "special circumstance" for an "extraordinary" player, the senior vice president for public affairs Kevin Quinn told Syracuse.com.

Brown could not make sense of the claim that he endorsed unretiring his number.

"If it's going to help the team professionally or help a scholarship fund or something like that, then that's good," explained Brown. "But for me, to endorse something that takes away something from you, that doesn't make sense.

"Unless I did something to deserve it. It seems like a punishment to me. I didn't take it that way, but it couldn't be a positive thing unless someone explained it so all of us could see the positive aspect of it."