Johnny Majors didn't have a pro career comparable to that of Peyton Manning, Doug Atkins or Reggie White. He didn't have a pro career at all.

But if you're going to retire football jersey numbers at the University of Tennessee, how can you ignore No. 45?

Easy answer: Majors doesn't fit the criteria.

The criteria includes a distinguished college and pro career. It also includes a stipulation: Candidates "must not have achieved greater fame or identity from another institution or university."

What's that? The Johnny Majors clause?

You're rewarding players for achieving success in the NFL and penalizing them for achieving success at another college. How contradictory is that?

UT announced Tuesday that it would retire the numbers of Atkins, White and Manning. All three are better known for what they did at another institution, the NFL.

White had one outstanding year with the Vols. He later became one of the premier pass rushers in NFL history. As good as Atkins was at UT, he was better in the NFL.

And as great as Manning was at UT, he never had a college year comparable to his 2004 season with the Indianapolis Colts.

UT isn't in the NFL. It's college football. And no UT football player did more in college football than Majors.

You can't compare his statistics to today's players because he played in a defensive era. Never mind his statistics. Look at what he did.

He did everything.

He led the Vols in passing, rushing, punting, punt returns, kickoff returns and scoring. He almost won the Heisman Trophy in 1956. He should have won the Heisman in 1956.

That's just as a player. As a coach, he rebuilt two of college football's most-dreadful programs.

In 1971, Majors won eight games at Iowa State, which hadn't won that many games since 1906. Its only three regular-season losses were to national-champion Nebraska, No. 2-ranked Oklahoma and No. 3-ranked Colorado.

Pittsburgh went 17-65 in the eight years prior to Majors' hiring. In five of those eight seasons, it won one game. Four years later, it was an unbeaten national champion.

Only Gen. Robert Neyland won more games than Majors at UT. In 16 years, Majors had only three losing seasons and went to 12 bowl games. Three of his last eight teams won SEC championships, and none of his last four teams won fewer than nine games.

Phillip Fulmer has achieved more as UT's head coach, but Majors set up Fulmer for success just as he set up Jackie Sherrill for success at Pitt.

As an athlete, Majors didn't accomplish as much as Manning, White or Atkins. But he did more with the Vols than any of them.

And shouldn't this be more about UT than the NFL?

White and Atkins are two of the greatest defensive players in NFL history, but if you polled fans on UT's greatest defensive player, the majority probably would answer "Al Wilson."

Wilson wasn't just the best defensive player on UT's national championship team. He was the heart and soul of UT's winningest team.

He might never make the NFL or college hall of fame. But no one played a bigger role in UT's first national championship in 47 years. That counts more with fans than anything Wilson accomplishes in the NFL.

There's no comparison between Manning and Tee Martin as quarterbacks. Yet there's a wax statue of Martin next to Manning's in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center. Why? Because Martin quarterbacked UT to a national title.

Fans are proud of what UT players do in the pros. They're passionate about what UT players do in college.

Majors is no longer UT's favorite son. He's openly bitter about how he was dismissed as head coach after heart surgery and after his last four teams won 38 games. He's openly critical of Fulmer.

But all his bitterness and complaining shouldn't detract from what he did for UT football. If he doesn't meet the criteria for having his jersey retired, there's something wrong with the criteria.