# Pro-athletes who only played for one team in their entire career? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 27, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508 "2013-01-27T02:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/1 "2013-01-27T02:55:09Z")
Current players don’t count, obviously. MLB: -Joe DiMaggio (NY Yankees) -Roberto Clemente (Pittsburgh Pirates) -Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh Pirates) -Lou Gehrig (NY Yankees) -Sandy Koufax (Brooklyn/LA Dodgers – I’d say that counts since he was still a member of the original team) -Bill Mazeroski (Pittsburgh Pirates) -Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn Dodgers) -Mickey Mantle (NY Yankees) NFL: -Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh Steelers) -Mean Joe Green (Pittsburgh Steelers) -Hines Ward (Pittsburgh Steelers) -Lynn Swann (Pittsburgh Steelers) -Roger Staubach (Dallas Cowboys) -Troy Aikman (Dallas Cowboys) -Dan Marino (Miami Dolphins) -John Elway (Denver Broncos) NHL: -Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) -Mike Bossy (NY Islanders) -Bobby Clarke (Philadelphia Flyers) -Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) -Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings) -Denis Potvin (NY Islanders) -Ken Dryden (Montreal Canadiens) -Stan Mikita (Chicago Blackhawks) -Maurice Richard (Montreal Canadiens) -Jean Beliveau (Montreal Canadiens) -Bob Gainey (Montreal Canadiens) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/2 "2013-01-27T03:43:56Z")
Alan Trammel and Lou Whittaker were teammates on the Detroit Tigers for their entire careers. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/3 "2013-01-27T03:49:10Z")
There’s Stan Musial. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/4 "2013-01-27T03:49:50Z")
Paul Scholes. Man United his entire career. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/5 "2013-01-27T03:57:45Z")
Mike Schmidt played his whole MLB career for the Phillies. There’s dedication for you. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/6 "2013-01-27T03:59:22Z")
Reggie Miller played only for the Indiana Pacers. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/7 "2013-01-27T04:03:57Z")
Ted Williams, Red Sox. A lot of baseball players stayed with one team before free agency, the more so the further back you go. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/8 "2013-01-27T04:27:12Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Mike Schmidt played his whole MLB career for the Phillies. There’s dedication for you. And George Brett did the same thing at (roughly) the same time in KC. Other baseball players: Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, and Cal Ripken (Baltimore Orioles) Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice (Boston Red Sox) Don Mattingly (New York Yankees) Tony Gwynn (San Diego Padres) In football: Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden (Baltimore Ravens) Barry Sanders (Detroit Lions) Phil Simms, Lawrence Taylor, and Tiki Barber (Giants) Anthony Munoz (Cincy) Aikman’s teammates Michael Irvin and Darryl Johnston (Cowboys) Ronde Barber and Derrick Brooks (Tampa) Dan Fouts (Chargers) Aaron Smith (Steelers) ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/9 "2013-01-27T04:33:28Z")
Nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/10 "2013-01-27T04:38:08Z")
Baseball: Don Drysdale (Dodgers). Fourteen years, and he only had one manager in all that time, making him the person who played his entire career the longest with just one single team under a single manager (no, no Philadelphia Athletic stayed with the team 14 years). Ed Kranepool (Mets) Lou Gehrig (Yankees) Basketball Willis Reed (Knicks) Bill Russell (Celtics) Larry Bird (Celtics) BTW, the question as asked would include thousands of “cup of coffee” type players like Steve Baker (four years with the NY Rangers) or Sean Fitzmaurice (a handful of games for the NY Mets) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/11 "2013-01-27T04:38:58Z")
Darrell Green played 19 seasons, all for the Washington Redskins. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/12 "2013-01-27T06:46:28Z")
This isn’t unusual in the NFL where careers even for very good players can be short. I’ll mention Otto Graham (10 years) and Jim Brown (9 years) for the Browns, but one of the longest single team players must be Lou “The Toe” Groza. He played from 1946 to 1959 as a tackle and place kicker for the Browns in the AAFC and the NFL. After retiring for one season he came back as a kicking specialist and played from 1961-67. That’s 21 seasons over 22 years for a single team. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/13 "2013-01-27T06:51:41Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > BTW, the question as asked would include thousands of “cup of coffee” type players like Steve Baker (four years with the NY Rangers) or Sean Fitzmaurice (a handful of games for the NY Mets) I was gonna say, you need some sort of limit on this (like “all pro” or “hall of fame”), otherwise you’d get the vast majority of people who ever played a professional game. At least in the NFL, where careers are short and trades are limited. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/14 "2013-01-27T07:20:30Z")
Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/15 "2013-01-27T07:25:08Z")
Also for the New York Yankees: Phil Rizzuto Roy White Thurman Munson Jorge Posada Bernie Williams ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/16 "2013-01-27T09:36:56Z")
More from MLB: Ernie Banks (Cubs) Charlie Gehringer (Tigers) Kirby Puckett (Twins) Edgar Martinez (Mariners) Bob Gibson (Cardinals) Robin Yount (Brewers) Pie Traynor (Pirates) Jeff Bagwell (Astros) Craig Biggio (Astros) Bill Terry (Giants) Mel Ott (Giants) Carl Hubbell (Giants) Pee Wee Reese (Dodgers) Roy Campanella (Dodgers) Bill Dickey (Yankees) Whitey Ford (Yankees) Bobby Doerr (Red Sox) Bob Feller (Indians) ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/17 "2013-01-27T12:42:50Z")
If you count a guy staying on a team that relocated halfway through his career, Bruce Matthews played for the Oilers/Titans and no other team. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/18 "2013-01-27T13:16:24Z")
Just as a gentle reminder that there are some professional sportspeople outside the US; the leading candidates for current AFL clubs are below: Some of the English football professionals have substantially longer “one club careers”. I’ll leave that post to one of the locals. Andrew McLeod (Adelaide) 1995–2010 340 games Simon Black (Brisbane) 1998– 307 games Bruce Doull (Carlton) 1969–86 356 games Tony Shaw (Collingwood) 1978–94 313 games Simon Madden (Essendon) 1974–92 378 games Matthew Pavlich (Fremantle) 2000– 271 games Ian Nankervis (Geelong) 1967–83 325 games Michael Tuck (Hawthorn) 1972–91 426 games David Neitz (Melbourne) 1993–2008 306 games Brent Harvey (North Melbourne) 1996– 338 games Warren Tredrea (Port Adelaide) 1997–2010 255 games Kevin Bartlett (Richmond) 1965–83 403 games Robert Harvey (St Kilda) 1988–2008 383 games Adam Goodes (Sydney) 1999– 309 games Glen Jakovich (West Coast) 1991–2004 276 games Brad Johnson (Western Bulldogs)1994–2010 364 games ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/19 "2013-01-27T14:03:03Z")
There’s a lot of one club players in soccer, but here’s a few notable ones: Paolo Maldini, AC Milan 1985-2009 (joined the the club’s youth team in 1978) 902 games. During his time there played every single position at some point. Ryan Giggs, Manchester United 1990-present (joined the youth team in 1985) 926 games. If he can get a goal this year, will have scored in every single league season for the last 23 years. Matt Le Tissier, Southampton 1986-2002 (joined youth team in 1985) 540 games. Despite being arguably the most talented player in the early Premiership days did not transfer to a bigger club. Southampton were relegated soon after he retired. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508/20 "2013-01-27T15:26:37Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Mike Schmidt played his whole MLB career for the Phillies. There’s dedication for you. Schmidt hit 548 home runs with the Phillies. To my admitted surprise, that is the most homers ever hit by a player who only ever played for one team. (It isn’t the most hit for one franchise - that’s still Hank Aaron - but it’s the most ever hit for one franchise by a guy who never hit one for anyone else.) [QUOTE=NitroPress] A lot of baseball players stayed with one team before free agency, the more so the further back you go. [/QUOTE] This is a common statement but it’s really not all that true. It has always been unusual for players to stay with one team their whole careers. Cy Young didn’t play for just one team, Babe Ruth didn’t, and nor did Tris Speaker or Ty Cobb or Eddie Collins or… well, you get the idea. You had your Stan Musials, sure, but then today you’ve got Craig Biggios. In all of baseball history, there are fewer than seventy players who have played 15 seasons in the major leagues and only played for one team. A surprising number of them are players of relatively recent vintage; Biggio, but also Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and others. There have been a LOT of one-team players in the free agent era - Schmidt mentined above, Alan Trammell, Ozzie Smith, Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Tony Gwynn, Robin Yount, Cal Ripken, George Brett, Willie Stargell. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pro-athletes-who-only-played-for-one-team-in-their-entire-career/648508.md?page=2)