# 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:** 4
**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, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/61 "2019-09-11T17:06:41Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > He is in the HoF. I’m too lazy to look it up but I want to say it was around 2016? Maybe 2017? Sometime around there. > > I don’t think he played long enough to merit his HoF induction, nor do I think he really was one of the greatest RBs to ever play the game (meriting an induction to the HoF) but he won Super Bowls and that counts for a lot so whaddyagonnado? Davis was inducted in 2017, in his 11th year of eligibility. For years, the debate around Davis centered around, as you note, whether he had been good enough, for long enough\*. And, the fact that Gale Sayers was in the HoF, with a similar injury-shortened career, was regularly referenced by Davis’s supporters as justification for his inclusion. - - he had a good rookie season, then three exceptional seasons, including breaking the 2000-yard-season milestone, then finally three seasons in which he played little, due to the injuries. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/62 "2019-09-11T18:05:48Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I came in mention Red Sox pitcher Tony C. Who knows how great he might have been if his career hadn’t been but short by that ill-pitched ball? Red Sox Pitcher? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/63 "2019-09-12T00:01:21Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Although Kiner is a HOFer, he wouldn’t be considered an “all time great” of the caliber of Robinson, however. True but he definitely meets the 10-years-only thing. I thought of another, Iron Joe McGinnity. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/64 "2019-09-12T00:20:53Z")
I was thinking about racing drivers, but trying to match with the criteria is tough. If 6 seasons in Formula 1 is short enough, then Senna, if “everyone is expecting big things out of him once he gets out of the minors” then Adam Petty. ---
**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 12, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/65 "2019-09-12T01:55:18Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > True but he definitely meets the 10-years-only thing. > > I thought of another, Iron Joe McGinnity. Was going to say Old Hoss, but he went 11 years. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/66 "2019-09-12T02:08:05Z")
If guys like Jim Brown and Gronkowski are being nominated… I’ve got to go with 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis. He played for eight seasons, the last limited to six games due to injury. In his seven full(ish) seasons he was 1st-team All-Pro five times, 2nd-team once, was voted to the ProBowl all seven, led the league in tackles twice, including his rookie year in which he won Defensive Rookie of the Year. He was certainly the best 49ers linebacker in my lifetime, likely ever. He was probably the best inside linebacker in the league for most of his career. ---
**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 12, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/67 "2019-09-12T03:13:47Z")
I remember Willis. He was pretty special. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/68 "2019-09-12T04:24:31Z")
Mark Spitz Archie Griffin ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/69 "2019-09-12T09:00:07Z")
> [@dzeiger](#): > > I was thinking about racing drivers, but trying to match with the criteria is tough. If 6 seasons in Formula 1 is short enough, then Senna, if “everyone is expecting big things out of him once he gets out of the minors” then Adam Petty. Senna’s F1 debut was in 1984, so he had 10 full seasons before he was killed near the start of his 11th. A better candidate, looking back a bit further, would be Jim Clark, whose first F1 race was in 1960, giving him 9 active years to his death in 1968. Both Senna and Clark are definitely in the pantheon of all-time greats. Then there was Fangio, who had 24 wins in 51 starts between 1950 and 1958, with a year out in 1952. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/70 "2019-09-12T09:46:23Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > In Australian sport great players usually play at a representative level - for their state and in international contests. In 1971 Geoff Starling, after only a few senior games, became the youngest player ever to play for Australia. He continued to play at this level for 3 years and was considered likely to end up one of the greats. In 1974 he contracted a debilitating illness that caused him to lose weight and suffer constant fatigue. Years later, too late to resume his career, a woman reading an article about Starling contacted him to tell him that she thought he had Addison’s disease. Tests proved her right. The sport he played in would be helpful. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/71 "2019-09-12T10:29:48Z")
You could always Google it but for the record Starling played Rugby League, a Balmain boy. **Herb Elliot** The dominant middle distance runner of his age, running sub four minute miles 17 times. Never beaten over 1,500m or the mile. In 1958 aged 20 he broke the world mile record by nearly 3 seconds (3:54.5) then shortly after broke the 1,500m record by a similar margin (3.36.0) At the Rome Olympics 1960 Elliot won the 1,500 breaking his own world record. (3:35.6) That time would have won gold in 10 of the 14 Olympic finals run since. He retired shortly after aged 22. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/72 "2019-09-12T12:24:00Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > An actual contender from horse racing has to be 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. … Whether he would make it into the HoF following drug testing… 😉 > [@](#): > > Herb Elliot … > > In 1958 aged 20 he broke the world mile record by nearly 3 seconds (3:54.5) then shortly after broke the 1,500m record by a similar margin (3.36.0) … > > He retired shortly after aged 22. That truly is impressive since, barring injury, distance runners generally peak well after 22. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/73 "2019-09-12T12:59:40Z")
> **[Mark Fidrych](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fidrych?wprov=sfti1)** > > Mark Steven Fidrych (/ˈfɪdrɪtʃ/ FID-rich; August 14, 1954 – April 13, 2009), nicknamed "The Bird", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) baseball pitcher. He pitched his entire career for the Detroit Tigers (1976–1980). > Known for his quirky antics on the mound, Fidrych led the major leagues with a 2.34 ERA in 1976, won the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year award, and finished with a 19–9 record. Shortly thereafter, however, injuries derailed his career, which ended after just five... I nominate “The Bird!” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/74 "2019-09-12T13:23:04Z")
Fidrych is an interesting case. He absolutely had a wonderful season in 1976. I do not believe he would have ended up being an all time great had he stayed healthy - at least, I think the odds were stacked heavily against him. Fidrych in his big rookie year pitched 250 innings and in those 250 innings struck out just 97 men, which is 3.5 men per nine innings. That was very low even for 1976. I cannot think of ANY modern starting pitcher who was successful for a long period of time who struck out so few men. Batters’ batting average on balls in play against Fidrych was 27 points lower than the AL norm, which isn’t a sustainable skill. There are other pitchers who’s had big success in their rookie and sophomore years with low strikeouts rates. Virtually all of them blew up in a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/75 "2019-09-12T14:38:16Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Senna’s F1 debut was in 1984, so he had 10 full seasons before he was killed near the start of his 11th. > > A better candidate, looking back a bit further, would be Jim Clark, whose first F1 race was in 1960, giving him 9 active years to his death in 1968. Both Senna and Clark are definitely in the pantheon of all-time greats. > > Then there was Fangio, who had 24 wins in 51 starts between 1950 and 1958, with a year out in 1952. I thought of Senna and Clark, too. I knew each died in his prime, but had to look up how long their careers were. I’ll check on Mark Donohue when I have some time. He raced in several different series so I’m not sure where to consider the beginning of his career. If you just count Can-Am, it’s probably only a few years. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/76 "2019-09-12T14:40:37Z")
Jim Thorpe? He’s widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of his era. He is most famous for his his performance in the 1912 Olympics, the only Olympics he ever competed in. He won gold in the pentathlon, and he dominated the decathlon, the first one he had ever competed in, including the first javelin event he had ever competed in. Then he dominated the decathlon in the AAU championships later that year. Then had his amateur status revoked due to having played baseball in a semi-pro league. Never competed in track and field again. After that, he bounced around several Major League Baseball teams, playing parts of 6 seasons between 1913 and 1919. He also bounced around a number of semi-pro American football teams between 1913 and 1920, before the NFL was founded. He was a founding member of the APFA in 1920, which became the NFL in 1922. He played only 52 games in the APFA/NFL between 1920 and 1928. He also played for a semi-pro barnstorming basketball team during the 1920s, but few details of that are known. Prior to all of that, he also played four years of collegiate football, where he was widely regarded as a dominant player at several positions, and two years of collegiate track and field, where he also excelled. Although his total athletic career was fairly lengthy, that was because he played so many different sports. He’s in the halls of fame for Pro Football (only 52 games over parts of 9 seasons), college football (a full collegiate career but that’s only 4 years), American Olympic teams (was only on one), and the national track and field competition (only two years of collegiate track and field competition and one AAU appearance). ---
**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 12, 2019, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/77 "2019-09-12T15:32:17Z")
Thorpe was one of those odd “Jack of all trades, Master of all” sort of athletes. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/78 "2019-09-12T16:14:18Z")
Ooh - good call on Thorpe. Surprised no one mentioned him earlier. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/79 "2019-09-12T17:36:54Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > An actual contender from horse racing has to be 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. He won his career debut on February 18, and won the Belmont Stakes - his last race - on June 9. His career lasted 6 races and 113 days. My timing on this post could have been better. :smack: ---
**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:** [September 12, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005/80 "2019-09-12T19:24:07Z")
Ernie Davis. Heisman Trophy winner and member of the college football Hall of Fame. Never played in the pros, dying of leukemia at age 23. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-athlete-with-the-shortest-career-is-considered-an-all-time-great/840005.md?page=5)