Pro players who have spent their entire career with a single team

[True Dough]

Do you admire the loyalty to a franchise or do you not blame a player who moves on to wherever the best contract comes from next?

NBA: Dirk Nowitzki -- 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks

MLB (tie): Brooks Robinson -- 23 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles
Carl Yastrzemski -- 23 seasons with the Boston Red Sox

NFL: Lou Groza -- 21 seasons with the Cleveland Browns

NHL: Alex Delvecchio -- 24 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings

[TheRealNorth]

1. I think its cool

But I have no issue if a player goes to the team that will pay them more in free agency. I think the thornier issue are trades involving those players that have spent their entire careers with one team, because usually there are competing interests in direct conflict (ie the trade compensation vs what team is most preferred by the player being traded).

[brush]

2. All those guys won a champiohship at least once...

except Yaz, and I guess the pay was good. Dame Lillard of the Trail Blazers needs to leave though as they've never going win a crown with what they have now.

[subterranean]

3. In the case of Robinson and Yaz, it wasn't really a matter of loyalty

since free agency didn't exist for the majority of their careers.

I think most fans of any team, myself included, have special appreciation for star players who stay with that team throughout their career. But the loyalty has to go both ways. I don't blame players who leave if their team is unwilling or unable to pay them close to their market value.

[Angleae]

4. Same for Groza

[Xavier Breath]

8. Yep. Jason Hanson spent 21 seasons with the Lions

in the modern era of free agency, so, he deserves more kudos than guys who played in an era when there was no such thing.

[Drum]

5. Derek Jeter

NY Yankees

[Celerity]

6. Paolo Maldini - 31 years with AC Milan (1978 - 2009) 'Il Capitano'

Honours

AC Milan

Serie A: 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04

Coppa Italia: 2002–03

Supercoppa Italiana: 1992, 1993, 2004

European Cup/UEFA Champions League: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 2002–03, 2006–07; runner-up: 1992–93, 1994–95, 2004–05

European/UEFA Super Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003

Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990

FIFA Club World Cup: 2007

[True Dough]

7. Definitely a worth addition to the list!

Thanks for pointing that out, Celerity!

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Ernie Banks

19 seasons (17 full seasons) with the Cubs.
He got called up at the end of the '53 season, then was a full-time starter until 1969.
Played part time in '70 & '71.
Then was the team ambassador until the year before he died (2015).
I've got 2 autographed baseballs from him on the curio directly above my right shoulder as I type this.

[True Dough]

10. Cool!

Either, or both, of those baseballs signed in person, or did you purchase/order them from a sporting goods or memorabilia store?

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Both In-Person

One is personalized, (to me, written by Ernie). I'm told that actually lowers the collector value, but I'm not looking to sell, and Ernie signed so many autographs they're not worth much anyway.
Pretty sure one is from when I was 8 or 9 & the other from age 11 or 12.
My dad was a high mucky-muck in a large fraternal organization branch/lodge so they had "smokers" and Chicago sports stars were something we saw up close & personal a few times per year.
That changed in the 70s when these athletes started making much bigger money & those 3 $500 meet & greets each month stopped meaning as much.

[True Dough]

13. Great memories and prized possessions

I don't have any signed sports memorabilia. I did save and invest a lot of my paper route money in Roger Clemens and Joe Montana rookie cards. Sports cards were all the rage when I was a teenager. I'm not sure of the value of either today (Clemens turning out to be a drug cheat certainly sullied his reputation and devalued that card), but I'm not about to retire off of either one!

[Angleae]

11. The list of players like this is huge.

NFL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Football_League_players_who_spent_their_entire_career_with_one_franchise

MLB: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_who_spent_their_entire_career_with_one_franchise

NBA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_players_who_have_spent_their_entire_career_with_one_franchise

[Drum]

14. MLB: George Brett

21 seasons with the Kansas City Royals