When all-time great athletes play for another team.

[Aragorn]

Let's try this thread again. He are some of sports' greatest athletes at points in their careers you tend not to think of at first, namely past their prime and wearing another team's uniform.


Emmitt Smith

Patrick Ewing

Wade Boggs

Brett Favre

Willie Mays

Tony Dorsett

Karl Malone and Gary Payton

Joe Montana

Joe Namath

Michael Jordan

Jerry Rice

Wayne Gretzky

Johnny Unitas

Brett Hull

Dominik Hasek

Franco Harris

Tim Brown

Eddie George

O.J. Simpson

Pete Rose

Greg Maddux

Roger Maris

Dominique Wilkins

Scottie Pippen

Clyde Drexler

Earl Campbell

 

[BRG]

Here is the late, great George Best towards the end of his career playing for Hibs.

BRG

 

[Fel]

Hey, leave Scottie alone we liked him here in Portland. At the time he was one of the few on the team not in trouble with the law.

 

[1001001]

I can't be bothered to find a picture, but you could probably add Ron Jaworski's tenure with the Rams as well.

 

[JM1776]

Tim Brown and Eddie George "all-time great athletes"? Hmm.

Well ... maybe Brown, upon further reflection. George? No way. The guy didn't even rush for 3.7 yards a carry over his career. Workmanlike and admirable? Sure. "All time great"? Uh uh.

I wouldn't rate Jaworski up there, either ... and he's my cousin.

 

[BRG]

I wee bit of a cheat here.

These are two of my boyhood heroes from the Washington Redskins, both playing for other teams before becoming legends at RFK.

John Riggins with the Jets.

And Joe Theisman, with some Canadian team!

http://www.thesportgallery.com/sport-stories/theisman.jpg

BRG

Please remember to only post images from sites you own or image hosting sites like photobucket, imageshack, etc. thanks

 

[ToddPence]

http://www.newyorkjets.com/image_assets/6508/020608_art_monk_320.jpg?1202313902

Let's not forget Art Monk.


And let's not forget to host images we post on our own websites. There's even an announcement at the top of the forum about it. Thanks

 

[scottydog]

I wish players didn't move around from team-to-team so frequently. I like stability. And loyalty.

For years and years, I couldn't imagine Carleton Fiske NOT playing for the Red Sox. And then one day, I read that he had played more games as a White Sock than a Red Sock. I'll still always think of him as a Red Sock.

 

[Aragorn]

The days of Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Mario Lemieux, Steve Largent, Kirby Puckett, etc. are over. A lot of times they're basically being a merc and going where the money is, like every single Scott Boras client. So you could probably be a Red Sox, Yankee, Dodger, Cub, etc. for life, but probably not a Padre, or Tiger.

In other cases, the player wants to keep playing but the team doesn't want them anymore, such as Joe Montana (who some 49er fans call a traitor... because he still wanted to play when San Francisco told him to go away???). Now Montana still had some juice left, as shown by the Monday Night Football game against Elway. But more often then not, these twilight seasons turn out to be like Patrick Ewing or Willie Mays.

 

[ToddPence]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3d/Ruth1935.jpg/413px-Ruth1935.jpg

The most famous example.

Reminder: only post images from sites you own or image hosting sites. Infractions may ensue. Thanks

 

[gblews]

One of the blackest times in Raiders' history (no pun intended):

It did give me a measure of satisfaction that l saw more Raiders pix than Chiefs when I searched under "Marcus Allen Chiefs".

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Johnny Damon

 

[Aragorn]

Johnny Damon??? Are there people who can't picture him as anything other than a Royal?

Ronnie Lott

Roger Craig

John Lynch

Cris Carter

 

[Aragorn]

Ray Bourque

 

[Ovation]

Guy Lafleur--while I applauded his ability to return and show he wasn't "finished" (though I lament the effect of his lengthy layoff on his conditioning), it seemed very wrong for this Habs fan to see him wearing Rangers and Nordiques blue.

 

[TheSeeker]

Ray Bourque

He may have been past his prime but he was still putting up some respectable numbers.

 

[The Great Meech]

Though perhaps not an all-time great, Curtis Joseph occurs, for the Red Wings, the Flames, and now, uh, for the Leafs again.

 

[Tom Servo]

Johnny Damon??? Are there people who can't picture him as anything other than a Royal?

I would say that most people think of Johnny Damon as member of the Red Sox, not a Royal, especially because of his 2004 Post Season heroics.

 

[SmoothieX]

^ He'll always be an Oakland A in my heart...

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Two of Formula One's biggest stars of the 80s and 90s, ending their careers driving for the opposition:

McLaren-Honda legend Ayrton Senna... in a Williams (in 1994). Sadly his career with the team would not last very long...

Yes, that really is Williams legend Nigel Mansell in a McLaren Mercedes (in 1995). It wouldn't last either.


Of course, in the early 80s, both drivers at certain points drove for Lotus...
Heck, F1 is a constantly changing world. Remember Michael Schumacher in a Jordan at his debut? (Belgian GP, 1991)

One race later... poached by Benetton Ford: