# What athlete with the shortest career is considered an all-time great? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 10, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005 "2019-09-10T20:09:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/21 "2019-09-10T22:59:58Z")
Ken Dryden needs mentioning. “Dryden played from 1971 to 1979, with a break during the entire 1973–74 season; he was unhappy with the contract that the Canadiens offered him, which he considered less than his market worth, given that he had won the Stanley Cup and Vezina Trophy. He announced on September 14, 1973 that he was joining the Toronto law firm of Osler, Hoskins and Harcourt as a legal clerk for the year, for $135 a week.” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/22 "2019-09-10T23:11:38Z")
Bjorn Borg played as a professional for less than ten years, retiring at the age of 26. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/23 "2019-09-10T23:26:00Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Rocky Marciano (8 years) > Jackie Robinson (10 years, unless you include his Negro League days - I would argue that his reputation in the sport does not rest on his performance in those years) He’d be in even without being the color line breaker. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/24 "2019-09-10T23:42:51Z")
HOF member [Ralph Kiner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Kiner) only played 10 years before retiring due to a back injury. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/25 "2019-09-10T23:44:47Z")
Olympic gymnasts of course have very short careers - for Nadia Comaneci, Wikipedia lists her first major championship in 1975 and her last in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/26 "2019-09-11T00:00:20Z")
MLB pitcher [Smoky Joe Wood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoky_Joe_Wood). Up there with Koufax. And came back as a good-hitting outfielder, then retired and coached baseball at Yale for 20 years. They even named a syndrome after him, which could be the name of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/27 "2019-09-11T00:09:24Z")
Terrell Davis only played 1995-2001. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/28 "2019-09-11T00:14:57Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Olympic gymnasts of course have very short careers - for Nadia Comaneci, Wikipedia lists her first major championship in 1975 and her last in 1981. Mary Lou Retton retired in 1985, at 17 IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/29 "2019-09-11T00:31:41Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > It’s not entirely within the constraints of the OP (but it’s not entirely outside of them either) Stone Cold Steve Austin. Most WWE fans remember him and his feud with the McMahons and all the stuff he did in the attitude era, but his career only lasted about 4-5 years. ? Steve Austin started wrestling in World Class Championship Wrestling out of Texas in 1989 and had his last match with WWE at Wrestlemania 19 on March 30, 2003. That’s a 14 year career. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/30 "2019-09-11T00:43:55Z")
Does it count if they died? If so, I’m going to nominate Bill Barilko, who died in the prime of his career, right after winning the Stanley Cup with the Maple Leafs in 1951. The guy won 4 Stanley Cups with the Leafs, in a 6 year career before dying in a plane crash. That’s amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/31 "2019-09-11T00:57:28Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > ? > Steve Austin started wrestling in World Class Championship Wrestling out of Texas in 1989 and had his last match with WWE at Wrestlemania 19 on March 30, 2003. That’s a 14 year career. True enough. I was really referencing his time at the top of the largest company in the world (akin to playing in the MLB or NFL) rather than the stuff he did in the territories or the early days of WCW. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/32 "2019-09-11T01:32:16Z")
Bobby Orr probably deserves a mention - he scores big on the “all-time great” metric. His career was seriously truncated by injuries - he played in 657 total games. Compare this to 1487 for Wayne Gretzky and 1767 for Gordie Howe, a couple of other guys who qualify as all-time greats. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/33 "2019-09-11T01:32:43Z")
How are 9-,10, 13-year careers short by any stretch of imagination? Even 5 years is pushing it. In Perú, Sandro Baylón played 3 years in the top football league and he is still remembered as a great player. He died in an accident at 22. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/34 "2019-09-11T01:54:36Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > He played in MLB for 8 years, a couple years longer than the average in that league. So it wasn’t a flash in the pan. But, bear in mind that the final three of those seasons were after he’d suffered the hip injury. He played in 23 games for the White Sox in 1991, on what was a dying hip joint. He then had his hip replaced in late '91 or early '92, and after a year off to rehab post-surgery, played as a part-time player for the White Sox and Angels for two seasons, playing on an artificial hip. :eek: So, really, he only had four-plus seasons (his time with the Royals; he only played in 25 games in '86) before his injury, which diminished his abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/35 "2019-09-11T02:23:55Z")
> [@UCBearcats](#): > > Terrell Davis only played 1995-2001. Davis is the guy that popped into my mind at first. A quick glance, and his numbers don’t look like too much- 7 seasons 7,607 yards. But the numbers in his first 4 years are just insane - 6,413 yards. Then the injuries took over. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/36 "2019-09-11T02:27:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > But, bear in mind that the final three of those seasons were after he’d suffered the hip injury. He played in 23 games for the White Sox in 1991, on what was a dying hip joint. He then had his hip replaced in late '91 or early '92, and after a year off to rehab post-surgery, played as a part-time player for the White Sox and Angels for two seasons, playing on an artificial hip. :eek: > > So, really, he only had four-plus seasons (his time with the Royals; he only played in 25 games in '86) before his injury, which diminished his abilities. Yeah, and note that while he’s the only player to be both in an MLB All-Star game and NFL Pro Bowl game (and amazing because of that), he only made it to one each. It’s hard to judge how “great” he was. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/37 "2019-09-11T03:17:11Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It’s hard to judge how “great” he was. He was a freakishly talented athlete, capable of astonishing feats, even if his stats didn’t necessarily reflect that greatness – though his ridiculous yards-per-carry number in the NFL does suggest it. So, “all-time great” may not exactly be the right way to describe Jackson – more accurately, he was one of the (if not _the_) most talented athletes of his generation. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/38 "2019-09-11T03:33:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > He was a freakishly talented athlete, capable of astonishing feats, even if his stats didn’t necessarily reflect that greatness – though his ridiculous yards-per-carry number in the NFL does suggest it. > > So, “all-time great” may not exactly be the right way to describe Jackson – more accurately, he was one of the (if not _the_) most talented athletes of his generation. I think that’s a really good way to put it. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/39 "2019-09-11T09:05:30Z")
In soccer Just Fontaine retired pretty early, at 29. Eric Cantona at 30. Didier Deschamps at 32. Is it a French thing? In cricket Kevin Pietersens internationa career was from 2005 to 2013. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/40 "2019-09-11T10:34:25Z")
Shane Bond - Cricket 14 year First Class career of which for 9 years he played Internationals for New Zealand. Plagued by injuries throughout which meant he was often unavailable but when he was playing he was dynamite. > [@](#): > > A right-arm fast bowler, his fastest recorded delivery was clocked at 156.4 km/h against India in the 2003 World Cup.[4] > > Bond’s career was plagued with injuries, chiefly recurring stress fractures of the back. He had surgery in 2004 to try to prevent further injury,[5] but it was only partially successful. In later years he suffered back problems, knee injuries and an abdominal tear. These problems, in conjunction with a late start to his fully professional cricket career, limited his appearances in both international and domestic cricket. Since his debut in the 2001/02 season, he only managed to appear in 18 Test matches for New Zealand before he retired from Test cricket in December 2009 at the age of 34.[2][6] > > His international career also suffered a hiatus of 18 months,[7] due to Bond’s involvement with the Delhi Giants in the ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League during March 2008, which caused the New Zealand cricket board to terminate his central contract in January 2008.[8] However, in June 2009 Bond severed ties with the rebel league and declared himself available to be selected for the national side once again.[9] In January 2010, Bond was selected to play in the 3rd season of the Indian Premier League for the Kolkata Knight Riders. On 13 May 2010 he retired from all forms of the game and did not play in the 4th season of Indian Premier League. Brydon Coverdale on Cricinfo described him as New Zealand’s best fast bowler.[10] > > Bond currently has the second best bowling strike rate of all time in Test match cricket (amongst bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 2,500 deliveries), behind George Lohmann. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005.md?page=3)