The No. 44 will be back on a Syracuse football jersey after almost 10 years, interim director of athletics Pete Sala announced at the Plaza 44 Groundbreaking Ceremony on Tuesday afternoon.

“With the blessing of Jim Brown and Floyd Little, the No. 44 is back,” Sala said.

Brown and Little, along with the late Ernie Davis, are the three most notable Syracuse players to wear the number. The last member of the Orange to wear it was fullback Rob Konrad in 1998. In all, 25 players have donned No. 44.

Sala added that there will be a committee assembled to decide which player gets to wear the number, and that group will include Little, a special assistant to the athletics director at SU. The committee will consist of four or five people, Little said, while adding that it could be given to a true freshman.

“We know it was the right thing to do,” Sala said of bringing back the number.

The number was retired on Nov. 12, 2005 but after 3,475 days, a campaign many have been pushing for as of late came to fruition.