# Which athlete is on the most last championship rosters? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 3, 2025, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358 "2025-12-03T07:00:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/1 "2025-12-03T07:00:22Z")
The question is inspired by Deion Sanders, who played for the Niners when they won their last Super Bowl (I’ve been a Niners fan ever since) and was traded to the Cowboys the next season where he won another ring. If you’re ever feeling low, just remember that the Cowboys have never even made a conference final since then. Wonderful, just wonderful. Anyway, I imagine there are several who are on two. Are there any on three? More? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/2 "2025-12-03T12:14:18Z")
LeBron James was on Miami, Cleveland and LAL’s last championship teams. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/3 "2025-12-03T16:57:07Z")
Will Smith, the pitcher not the catcher, was a member of the 2021 Braves, 2022 Astros, and 2023 Rangers world championship teams. None of the three has won since. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/4 "2025-12-03T18:02:43Z")
It’s interesting that you can lose this record, not just by somebody else beating it, but by you losing your stats if a former team wins another championship. ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/5 "2025-12-03T19:09:58Z")
Indeed. The record is safe only if it’s defunct teams. I think LeBron’s will remain at two for a little while with the Cavs and Heat regardless of what the Lakers do. It’s funny that Deion’s former teams have a combined championship drought of 61 years. When you say it like that, yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/6 "2025-12-03T19:16:20Z")
Freddy Freeman: Dodgers and Braves ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/7 "2025-12-03T19:21:04Z")
Max Scherzer was oh so close to getting three: Washington, Texas, (Toronto) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/8 "2025-12-03T19:36:26Z")
Danny Green was with the Lakers, Raptors and Spurs in their last championships. I doubt there is any athlete in U.S. pro sports with more than 3. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/9 "2025-12-03T19:46:09Z")
> [@Xocomil](#): > > The question is inspired by Deion Sanders, who played for the Niners when they won their last Super Bowl (I’ve been a Niners fan ever since) and was traded to the Cowboys the next season where he won another ring. If you’re ever feeling low, just remember that the Cowboys have never even made a conference final since then. Wonderful, just wonderful. Hope is kindled for the Browns! [if that carries over to the next generation…] Then again be careful what you wish for: > [@Xocomil](#): > > It’s funny that Deion’s former teams have a combined championship drought of 61 years. When you say it like that, yikes. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/10 "2025-12-03T21:23:49Z")
No MLB player has won the Series with more than three different teams, so baseball is out. I don’t really follow the other sports, so I couldn’t hazard a guess about them. \*Lonnie Smith probably came the closest: Phillies in ‘80, Cardinals in ‘82, Royals in ‘85, and the ‘91 series (when he was playing with Atlanta) came out the wrong way for the Braves despite being a seven-game series with games 6 and 7 being extra inning losses. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/11 "2025-12-03T21:30:17Z")
There aren’t any in NFL, NBA, or MLB with four different teams ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/12 "2025-12-04T00:30:25Z")
This is probably too recent to count, but Brady and Gronk were on the last Patriots & Bucs SB winning teams. ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/13 "2025-12-07T04:22:28Z")
I realized that any athlete with any championionship is in the minority and a multiple championship athlete is in even more rarefied company. Winning with two or more teams? Almost unheard of. Really it says more about the Niners and (especially) the Cowboys than it says about Deion. Although, hm, Colorado’s hasn’t be too hot under his regime, either. Is Deion Sanders a walking curse? ---
**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:** [December 7, 2025, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/14 "2025-12-07T04:44:43Z")
> [@Xocomil](#): > > Winning with two or more teams? Almost unheard of. I don’t think it’s _that_ unheard of. I can, off the top of my head, think of four other NFL players who did it, specifically with the Cowboys and another team: - Mike Ditka (1963 Bears, 1971 Cowboys) - Herb Adderley (1961, '62, '65, '66, '67 Packers, 1971 Cowboys) - Preston Pearson (1968 Colts\*, 1974 Steelers, 1977 Cowboys) - Charles Haley (1988, '89 49ers, 1992, '93, '95 Cowboys) \*- the Colts won the NFL Championship in '68, but then lost the pre-merger Super Bowl against the AFL champion Jets. ---
**Author:** ![Xocomil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xocomil/32/14927_2.png) [@Xocomil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xocomil)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/15 "2025-12-07T05:01:40Z")
Yeah, not _that_ unheard of. According to [this](https://www.profootballnetwork.com/list-of-players-whove-won-the-super-bowl-with-multiple-teams/), there are 64 of them. It’s both more and somehow fewer than you’d expect. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/16 "2025-12-07T05:03:57Z")
[Jack Marshall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Marshall_(ice_hockey)) was a hockey player who won 6 Stanley Cups in the early 1900s: 1901 - Winnipeg Victorias 1902, 1903 - Montreal AAA 1907, 1910 - Montreal Wanderers 1914 - Toronto Blueshirts I believe those are the last Stanley Cups for each of those teams. This is a bit of a cheat, since the Stanley Cup was a much different competition back then, and the Victorias did go on to win a different trophy (Allen Cup) later on. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2025, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/17 "2025-12-07T05:55:14Z")
> [@borschevsky](#): > > I believe those are the last Stanley Cups for each of those teams. Given that, AFAICT, the Wanderers are the only one of those teams which ever played in the NHL (for which the Stanley Cup became the championship trophy), and all of those teams have been defunct for 90+ years, that does seem likely. 😃 It also looks like Montreal AAA (the last of the four to survive) also won the Allan Cup, in 1930. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/18 "2025-12-07T19:38:30Z")
Is the query limited to the four major North American Pro leagues? It could include NCAA National Championships particularly in Football and Basketball but I guess Baseball and Hockey would count too, although a bit more obscure. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/19 "2025-12-07T19:57:30Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > It could include NCAA National Championships particularly in Football and Basketball but I guess Baseball and Hockey would count too, although a bit more obscure. Until relatively recently, it was uncommon for college athletes to change schools, and those who did typically started out at a smaller or junior college school before transferring to a larger school. It was especially uncommon for an athlete to transfer from one Division I school to another, particularly because the NCAA generally required such transfers to sit out a season before playing for their new school (though waivers were sometimes granted). Recent rule changes, which eliminated the “sit out a year” penalty, as well as frequently granting extra seasons of eligibility (particularly for football) and the establishment of the “transfer portal” have effectively made top-end college athletes free agents after each season. That said, I’m sure that there are _some_ examples of an athlete who won championships for multiple schools, but between relatively short collegiate careers, and not much movement of athletes from one school to another until recent years, it’s likely not as common as it is in professional sports. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358/20 "2025-12-07T22:48:27Z")
I was thinking a player like Deion Sanders could have played on Florida State last National Championship winner in football (or baseball) which would add to his total. FTR he didn’t [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-athlete-is-on-the-most-last-championship-rosters/1025358.md?page=2)