We all have our favorite players who play for ourteam and our favorite players who play for other teams. There are always guys whom we are drawn to from afar for years and years and every so often, they end up playing for our team. Maybe it’s a really good player whose ability we admire or perhaps they share the same birthday. Whatever the reason, there are always certain guys you get extra excited when your team acquires. Here are five guys in each of the four big sports I long admired from afar and couldn’t believe actually ended up playing for my favorite team…
DALLAS MAVERICKS
Steve Nash: This one definitely took form far differently than the others, but it still fits my criteria. My family is South African. I’m the only one born in Dallas and I take great pride in both my place of birth as well as my family’s origin. Steve Nash was born in South Africa. His dad and my dad played soccer against one another. So, even though the Mavs acquired Steve as an unproven point guard far from being established, his South African connection made me a big fan and I was pumped when the Mavs got him.
Vince Carter:Not a ton of explanation needed here, right? If Vince hadn’t captured our amazement already, he certainly did during the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. Not only did he defy gravity, but he helped lift a franchise in Toronto. As he got older, he seemed to mature and that he has hung around as long as he has is a testament to the person and teammate he became. He might not have been that guy at all times in Toronto but he certainly was in Dallas. Oh, and that big buzzer beater against the Spurs was cool.
Raef LaFrentz: My brothers are nearly 13 and 11 years older than me so their college era and mine were way different. One of my older brothers went to Georgetown when Iverson was there and the other went to Kansas when Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz were there. I loved that Kansas team and quickly became a fan of both Pierce and LaFrentz (and Jacque Vaughn). While my love for Pierce faded over his career, I was so pumped when the Mavs acquired both LaFrentz and Van Exel, not only because my team was making big moves to try and improve, but I always followed LaFrentz and was excited to watch him with the Mavs.
Peja Stojakovic: He had a super exceptional skill: the ability to shoot. Those Mavs-Kings rivalry years were fun and Peja was a big part of that on the Kings side of things. He never played again after winning the title with the 2011 Mavs so the Mavs literally got him at the end of his career. He wasn’t the same guy but he wasn’t asked to be the same guy, either. He did, however, have some big moments down the stretch, and I still had to do a double-take and remind myself he played for the Mavs.
Juwan Howard:I was too young to truly know all of Howard’s Michigan history when the Mavs acquired him before their first playoff series win of my lifetime, but I knew he was a “big” name and he was the first big name the Mavs acquired at the deadline that I had recalled so it was always cool to me that he was helping the Mavs en route to their win over the Jazz. Had that move happened a few years later and I was old enough to have experienced a few more in-season trades, maybe I wouldn’t have had the same connection to Juwan.
DALLAS STARS
Jaromir Jagr:I typically played with my favorite teams back in my video game days but, for each sport, there was always a team or two with whom I enjoyed playing when I needed a change of pace. On the hockey side of things, I LOVED playing with the Lemieux-Jagr Penguins. From the insane ability, to their unique numbers, and Jagr’s mullet hair, I loved ‘em both. When Jagr came to Dallas, I thought it was the coolest thing. It didn’t even last a full-season before he got traded but he wasn’t half-bad while he wore the Stars sweater.
Jason Arnott:This was a weird one because Arnott broke our hearts with the Cup clincher in 2000 but I think that’s why, in my mind, it was so crazy he played for the Stars. The reality is that it wasn’t that crazy but he still was a significant player in my memory because of that moment and, in general, a very good player who changed sides.
Eric Lindros: Kind of sad, right? The way concussions derailed his career was very unfortunate. A 115-point guy at 22, Lindros was a tour de force on the ice. His last year was with the Stars. He was just another guy at that time but it was crazy that 88 was in a Stars sweater.
Val Kamensky: I was enamored with the mid-90s Avalanche teams that were loaded with talent. Kamensky was a part of that and after a brief stint with the Rangers he played for the Stars. It didn’t last long. He was gone mid-season and he wasn’t very good while he was here. Claude Lemieux, who was also with those Avs teams, also falls into this category, but since Val came first, he gets the nod.
Patrick Sharp:A really good player on some good Blackhawks teams, Sharp makes this list because I have a friend who absolutely thinks he’s the hottest guy ever so he’s more on this list by proxy.
TEXAS RANGERS
Todd Frazier:When I was really young, I used to love watching the Little League World Series. One of my first LLWS memories was the Toms River Little League team led by this kid named Todd Frazier who played shortstop and pitched and hit bombs and was just so good. He led them to the title and he was theguy. Years later he surfaced as a first round pick and then a Red and then an All-Star and then a Derby champ and this guy with this awesome personality…and now he’s a Ranger.
Sammy Sosa:I guess I had fallen out of love with him as had a lot of America after the corked bat stuff, but it was still somewhat surreal. Like many, I got home from school and turned on WGN to watch the Cubs. Every Sosa at-bat was a treat. From the power to the home run hop to the dugout chest pound-kissing thing he did to the camera, he was lovable. Then he and McGwire captured the country. Then, they both sort of lost their hold. Sosa, trying to hold on, spent a year with the Rangers in which he blasted his 600thcareer home run…against the Cubs.
Alex Rodriguez:I don’t like the guy but you have to admit, it was crazy that the Rangers had landed the best player in baseball…
Vladimir Guerrero: For years, Vlad was my favorite player that no one who followed an AL team really knew about. He could do it all. A true five-tool guy whose tools were somewhat compromised by the Olympic Stadium turf. That hit tool was never compromised, though. Nor was his arm. He terrorized the Rangers with the Angels but there was this mystique about the guy. Then he joined in 2010 and was so good for the Rangers, also responsible for the big hit that helped elevate the Rangers past the Yankees in Game 6 of the 2010 ALCS.
Cole Hamels: How many awesome pitchers have the Rangers had in their career? Not many. Cole was one and he was huge for them in 2015 as they came from behind to win the division, punctuated by his complete game in the division-clinching win on the season’s final day. A World Series MVP with a Hollywood flare, he brought some legitimacy to the Rangers rotation.
DALLAS COWBOYS
Deion Sanders: I don’t even really like Deion that much but he was a two-sport star and a freak athlete who was a highlight waiting to happen when he got his hands on the ball. I wasn’t old enough to truly appreciate the past with Deion, but I knew enough to know it was cool he was a Cowboy.
Roy Williams (WR): I guess he was a bit of disappointment with the Cowboys after a great start to his career with the Lions, but I loved watching him play at UT and drafted him in my Madden franchise. Eventually he became an actual Cowboy and I guess that was cool for me.
Keyshawn Johnson:At the end of the day, I always found Keyshawn’s honesty to be refreshing. He was a big personality and always kept things interested.
Terrell Owens:Again, not a commentary on my love for the player, but it was kind of surreal that he ended up with the Dallas Cowboys circus. He certainly didn’t lack for crazy moments while palying for Jerry.
Mark Sanchez:I’d wager this one probably isn’t on anyone else’s list but I was at USC when Mark quarterbacked one of the best teams in the country. They lost at Oregon State on a Thursday night in one of those wacky, fluke college losses, but there’s no doubt that that team was at worst the second best in the country (if anything, I’m the opposite of a homer when it comes to USC football as, despite my deep love for that school and that program, they’ve conditioned me to expect disappointment). They were dominant that year and Sanchez was a big part of it. It was perceived as controversial when he declared after just one year as a starter, but what else was there for him to achieve? Besides, he was a top-10 pick and I still believe had he gone to a team that was better prepared to develop quartrbacks, he’d have had a better career.