Who is that one player who could be considered the “Face of the Franchise” for each of the major sports leagues in your city, wherever you may be, be it NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, soccer, rugby, etc., currentandall-time?
For Washington DC, the currents are easily:
Redskins: RG3
Wizards: John Wall
Capitals: Alex Ovechkin
Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman
DC United: I’m not familiar enough with them to name even a single current player.
All-time, that’s where it all gets less clear:
Redskins: John Riggins, maybe Joe Theissman or Sonny Jurgensen?
Wizards: probably Wes Unseld
Capitals: still Ovechkin
Nationals: still Zimmerman
DC United: I’m going to go with Marco Etcheverry
Ryan Zimmerman? Over Steven Strasburg or the most famous National of all, Bryce Harper?
For Toronto teams it’s effectively a null hypothesis because they’re all so awful. Well, the Jays have Jose Bautista, who is legitimately great and loved.
I considered them, and those two get a lot of national press, but living here and seeing them in the paper every day the first name I think of when I think of the Nats is still Zimmerman.
Zimmerman’s been a consistent presence since nearly day one. He’s a team leader, helped us weather some awful seasons, and the other guys look up to him, including Stras and Harper. He may not be as well known as those two outside DC, but locally he is a good choice for “face of the team.”
Steelers- Troy Polamalu
Penguins- Sidney Crosby
Pirates- Andrew McCutcheon
All-Time:
Steelers- Terry Bradshaw or Franco Harris, maybe Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis with the younger generation.
Penguins- Mario Lemieux
Pirates- Roberto Clemente or Wllie Stargell, maybe some holdouts for Honus Wagner or Bill Mazeroski.
Eagles: Vick (still)/ LeSean McCoy
Sixers: Bynum (if ever plays)/Jrue Holliday
Flyers: Giroux
Phillies: Tough one, but I’ll stick with Utley
All time Eagles: Westbrook/Quick/Dawkins
All time Sixers: The Doctor
All time Flyer: Clarke
All time Phillie: Mike Schmidt/Steve Carlton
Seattle…
Mariners: Felix Hernandez now, Ken Griffey Jr. all-time
Seahawks: Marshawn Lynch now, Matt Hasselback all-time
Sonics: Shawn Kemp or Gary Payton all-time
I am not sure about the Bengals, but for the Reds, Joey Votto is definitely the current face of the franchise. To me, Johnny Bench would be the all-timer, but I think a lot of people would pick Pete Rose and some Joe Morgan.
Now:
Giants: Eli Manning
Jets: Mark Sanchez or the press wants you to think Tim Tebow
Yankees: Jeter
Mets: David Wright
Devils: Martin Brodeur
Knicks: Carmelo Anthony
Nets: Probably Kris Humphries Kardashian or Jay Z
Rangers: Lundqvist?
All time:
Giants: Phil Sims
Jets: Broadway Joe
Yankees: Some many but gotta go with the Babe
Mets: Tom Seaver
Devils: Martin Brodeur
Knicks: Walt Frazier or Patrick Ewing
Nets: Bernard King
Rangers: Should be Brian Leetch but most will think Messier because of the cup
