WOAY – WVU Athletics announced Thursday that the #90 football jersey will be retired this fall in honor of Darryl Talley. The linebacker will be honored in an on-field ceremony during the Texas Tech game on October 2.
Talley came to West Virginia University from Cleveland, and played under both Frank Cignetti & Don Nehlen. Over his career, he totaled 282 unassisted tackles, 202 assisted tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 19 quarterback sacks. His five tackles for loss against Penn State in 1980 was a single-game record that stood for more than 20 years.
Talley helped the Mountaineers reach both the 1981 Peach Bowl and the 1982 Gator Bowl; in ’82, he was named team MVP and became WVU’s third consensus All-American. Talley played 14 total years in the NFL with the Bills, Falcons, and Vikings, twice earning both All-Pro honors and Pro Bowl invites.
#90 is the fourth number to be retired by Mountaineer football, following #21 (Ira “Rat” Rodgers), #75 (Sam Huff), and #77 (Bruce Bosley). Akheem Mesidor currently wears #90 for WVU, and he can still wear that number for the remainder of his playing career, but the number will go into permanent retirement afterward.
