Column: Seaman is last to don No. 42

Princeton University to retire special number

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
   Bill Bradley. Dick Kazmaier. Greg Seaman.
   All three will be there tonight as Princeton University retires jersey No. 42 in a ceremony at Jadwin Gym. A cocktail reception begins at 7 p.m. followed by the ceremony at 8 p.m. The ceremony is open to the public at $100 per person, $50 for young alumni (Classes of 2004 through 2008) and $25 for children, ages 12 and under.
   Hall-of-Famer Bradley was the greatest to ever play basketball for the Tigers.
   Heisman Trophy winner Kazmaier was the greatest to roam the gridiron for the Orange and Black.
   Seaman? Greg Seaman? He started one game for the Princeton men’s lacrosse team last season. The midfielder has five career goals. He won seven face-offs as a sophomore. His biggest claim to fame before tonight’s ceremony might be that he’s the son of Towson coach Tony Seaman, who has taken three different teams to the final four.
   ”I fit right in,” laughed Seaman, who is a Princeton senior.
   He may not be a Hall of Famer, but he will be the last Princeton athlete to wear No. 42. It already has been taken out of circulation in football and basketball. After Friday’s ceremony, except for Seaman, no Princeton player — male or female — will have the chance to wear the hallowed number. Seaman won’t miss the chance to see his number retired before he wears it for one last time.
   ”I’ve got to be there,” Seaman said. “I’m the last man standing. I think it’s pretty cool. If I can get a picture or get to meet them and maybe just get them to sign my program, I think that’d be pretty cool.”
   Seaman wouldn’t have been in this position had he had his way when he spurned his father’s attempts to have him join him at Towson to join Bill Tierney’s crew. At St. Paul’s School in Maryland, Seaman wore No. 24.
   ”When I came as freshman, 24 was taken,” Seaman said. “I went with 42.
   ”I found out about Dick Kazmaier. I saw pictures of him with 42. Bill Bradley, I think he wore 24 when he played professionally. It’s funny. I always try to see if I can get any 42 gear. I wanted to get a 42 throwback jersey. I don’t think a lot of people knew they both wore it.”
   Bradley and Kazmaier will be introduced by John McPhee, the 1953 Princeton graduate who became a Pulitzer Prize winning author. Both men are expected to address the audience.
   The ceremony gives Princeton fans a chance to celebrate two of the greatest Princeton athletes ever along with a third who will wear the number for one final season. At halftime of Saturday’s football game against Harvard, the two will again be honored. After that, the number will be Seaman’s.
   ”I have to at least live up to the expectations,” he said. “A lot of people are jealous.
   ”I’m the last one to ever wear it,” he added. “I’m pretty excited about it.”
   Seaman comes off a promising fall, for him and for the Tiger men’s lacrosse team.
   ”We did well in our tournaments and against alumni,” Seaman said. “We showed we’ll do well on the whole. I have a good chance to contribute.”
   He had better contribute. There is a lot to live up to this season for the last No. 42 in the Orange and Black.
   ”Maybe it’ll be a magical jersey now,” Seaman said. “Maybe it’ll help me.”