Ernie Banks had his Number 14 retired by Cubs in 1982.
Nolan Ryan
Defensive tackle Ernie Stautner had his #70retired by the Steelers. That has been the only number they have retired.
Bill Masterton's number 19 on January 17th 1987
Bruce Smith's jersey number (54) was the first to be retired by the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, in 1977.
The first Giants jersey to be retired, which was also the first jersey ever retired by an NFL team, was the #1 of offensive/defensive end Ray Flaherty in 1935.
Bob Griese. hope that helped!
I would have to say "Pistol" Pete Maravich. His number 7 jersey was retired by the Utah Jazz in 1985. All of the other numbers retired by the Jazz continued their playing careers past that date. It could very well be Karl Malone.
Lou Gehrig 1940
Lou Gehrig was the first Yankee to have his number retired. The #4 was retired by the Yankees in 1939.
Jackie Robinson's jersey number are retired from all MLB teams because Robinson was the first African American baseball player in MLB history.His number was not retired because he was one of the best players but, because of the reason stated above.Most experts do not believe that he was not among the top players in history; some even say he is not the best to wear his jersey number, 42.
The first number in professional sports to be retired was the number 1. It was worn by Ray Flaherty of the New York Giants football team, and was retired in 1935.