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Time to exalt 'faces of the franchise'

By Brett Friedlander
©2014 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

Senior Nights are an emotional occasion regardless of who’s involved or where they take place. The one that will be celebrated at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on Thursday will just be a little more special than most because of the group being honored.

The 19 seniors playing their final home game for the Pirates make up one of the most important classes in their school’s 82-year football history. Their legacy goes far beyond their four-year record of 31-18 and the opportunity they still have of posting their school’s first ever back-to-back 10-win seasons.

Arriving on the heels of two straight Conference USA championships and a coaching change that forced ECU to start over from scratch as one of the youngest teams in college football, they successfully bridged the gap between the Skip Holtz and Ruffin McNeill eras, and the transition to the American Athletic Conference.

In the process, their contributions have been instrumental in helping transform the Pirates from a successful team into a consistent, winning program that’s finally beginning to catch the attention of those outside the confines of the Old North State.

“I love coaching with them and coaching for them,” McNeill said of the seniors earlier this week. “These guys have done everything I ask. They’re my sons and it’s not lip service. I love them more as people than I do inside their uniforms. I love those kids personally.”

While McNeill will likely shed a tear or two for all 19 upperclassmen as they’re honored before Thursday’s regular season finale against Central Florida, there are two whose contributions have allowed them to stand out above the rest.

Shane Carden and Justin Hardy have become the proverbial “faces of the franchise” over the past three years.

The strong-armed kid from Texas and the former walkon from Vanceboro have literally rewritten the ECU record books and have become so linked by their friendship and accomplishments that they’re now referred to as a single entity, identified by the hashtag #Cardy.

Carden, a Davey O’Brien Award candidate, is the Pirates’ all-time leader in passing yards (11,167), completions (982), touchdown passes (81) and total offense (11.085), and is just a couple of weeks away from being named Player of the Year in his second different conference.

Hardy, meanwhile, became the leading receiver in FBS history recently with his 350th career catch. He has since added to that mark and heads into his final home game with school record marks of 364 receptions, 4,241 yards and 33 scores.

As impressive as those numbers are, they only scratch the surface of what Carden and Hardy have meant to ECU. Articulate, humble, hard-working … they have been the embodiment of — in the words of their coach — what it means to be a Pirate.

That’s why, for all they’ve done for ECU, it’s time for ECU to give something back to them with a gesture that has been reserved for only a select few before them.

Only four numbers have ever been retired by the Pirates and none for anyone who has played more recently than 1967. It’s about time two more are added to the No. 16 of kicker Robert Farris, the No. 18 of blocking back Norman Swindell, the No. 29 of running back James Speight and the No. 36 of quarterback Roger Thrift.

It would only be fitting for Hardy’s No. 2 and Carden’s No. 5 to be given their rightful places of honor either before, during or after Thursday night’s game so that the gesture can be celebrated by their teammates and 50,000 of their closest purple-clad friend in the stands.

By happy coincidence, the retiring of their numbers would also become cause for ECU to honor two other legends worthy of permanent recognition, since Jeff Blake — he of the 11-1 Peach Bowl season — also wore No. 2, and Marcus Crandall — another former Pirate who led his team to back-to-back Liberty Bowls before going on to a CFL Grey Cup — is a former No. 5.

Who knows?

Perhaps McNeill and athletic director Jeff Compher are already planning a surprise ceremony similar to the one they sprung on Hardy after he surpassed Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles as the nation’s all-time receiving leader on Nov. 22 against Tulane. But even if the honor has to wait until the team banquet or a game sometime next season, it’s a move that at some point has to be made.

To allow anyone else to wear Hardy’s No, 2 or Carden’s No. 5 would be a disservice to the two most important members of one of the most important senior classes in ECU history.

Contact Brett Friedlander

PAGE UPDATED 12/03/14 04:45 AM.

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