Who deserved a ring?

I was lucky enough to grow up a Bulls fan during the MJ era. The 6 titles were great but a few of those came at the expense of some players I really liked who would never win a championship title. I really liked Charles Barkley & John Stockton and had they not faced the Bulls in the finals I probably would have rooted for their teams. So who are some athletes that you feel deserved a championship but never got one?

Charles Barkley before he was a personality he was a terrific ballplayer, undersized but one would never know it
John Stockton a no-nonsense unselfish & fundamentally sound player
Barry Sanders a shame he retired when he did, an even bigger shame is he had to spend all of that time with the Lions
Steve Largent before Jerry Rice came along Largent had all of those records but now he seems to have faded into obscurity
Doug Flutie run out of Chicago by a jealous Jim McMahon, would use the CFL to prove he deserved another shot at the NFL
Warren Moon also had to spend time in the CFL before getting his chance in the NFL
Ryne Sandberg toiled for years on terrible teams but never complained
Ernie Banks usually he is one of the first names when people think about this topic

 

I would agree with this one the most. And for a while there, the Jazz always seemed to give the Bulls a run for their money in the playoffs during the 90's.

One name comes to mind when I think about who deserved a ring. It's cliche but, Dan Marino. Played his heart out and always seemed to be missing that little piece of the puzzle in order to be able to win a Superbowl. Came close though.

 

Rings aren't deserved. Rings are earned.

However, there are a list of players I would have liked to see win it all. John Stockton and Karl Malone, Eddie George, Charles Barkley, Jim Kelly. that's just off the top of my head. Again, none of them deserved a ring, but I would have liked to have seen them win one.

 

I think Bill Russell should have nabbed nine more. He only had 11, so if he got nine more he could put two rings on each finger.


Too bad, so sad.

 

retired players

Dan Marino
Charles Barkley
Barry Sanders
Ernie Banks
Karl Malone
Eddie George

I refuse to put John Stockton on this list just because he was one of the dirtiest players to ever pick up a basketball.


current players that still haven't won the big one

Kevin Garnett
Peyton Manning
Marvin Harrison
Steve Nash
Tiki Barber
Allen Iverson
Jason Kidd
Miguel Tejada
Brian Urlacher

 

Bite your tongue. Bite it!

And sometimes I find that the athletes that "earn" the rings does necessarily "deserve" the rings. And vice-versa.

 

Rings aren't deserved. Rings are earned.

Perhaps, but in team sports it may not matter how good a player is or how much he does, if he doesn't have a supporting cast theres nothing he can do. Free Agency is helping with that more in the modern day, but players didn't use to move around as freely as they do now, and they remained with one team. You can be the greatest player in history, but if you have no help and you're facing a bunch of other top players who individually can't match you but together have a much better team... thats not your fault. IMO, some of those players deserved the chance to win rings that they didn't get.

 

Dan "the man" Marino. Awesome player! Just never won the big one.

 

Name me someone on anyone's list that didn't get to a conference final, or a championship game, or at least the playoffs. There are very, very few players that fit that description. The case that your team was never good enough can be made for those who never had a team even good enough to contend, but IMO, not for those who were in contention and never were able to close the deal.

 

just because your team is good enough to contend doesn't mean they can't run into better teams...

 

And we can go 'round and 'round on this one.

If you're a great and your team is good enough to get to the playoffs, you have a legitimate shot of winning it all. That's my opinion.

No one deserves to have a ring handed to them on a silver platter. That's my opinion.

There are a number of very good players and some great players who deserved smarter front offices during their times of playing to help them get to the next level (Dan Marino comes to mind ... why did he never have a good running back?). That's my opinion, too.

 

"why did he never have a good running back?)."




Becuase he was one of the must potent passer in the NFL. Who needs running back? When you got a guy throwing, 300 to 400 yards; with 3 to 4 touchdowns, a game... I won't deny a good running back would have probably sealed the deal for them, but they just never had one. Plus a good running back was not the only reason that he never won one either. Some of those teams where not as great as what some people think either. There's a lot of reason why Miami never won it. But I'm not going to go into all that. Plus it's the GM's job to put a team together that can win - unfortunately Miami never had one (atleast a good one, anyways).

 

John Elway was all set to be on this list until Terrell Davis came along. That's what got him his ring, and then another one.

 

A whole generation of NBA players never won a championship thanks to Jordan & company. Besides the guys I mentioned players like Karl Malone, Shawn Kemp, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Charles Oakley, Tim Hardaway, Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Kevin Johnson & Dan Majerle went down in defeat. All great players that unfortunately had to play one of the greatest. On those championship teams were scrubs like Will Perdue, Rodney McRay & Dennis Hopson. You could have put a number of other players in their position & it probably wouldn't have changed the outcome. Sometimes players get lucky to be on the team they are on. I can't stomach that a marginal player & all around jerk like Bryan Cox was on the Patriots and won a superbowl ring.

Perhaps a better title would have been "Best players to never win a championship".

 

As much as I loathe the Broncos, I think it's only fair that Elway got a ring. He was a spectacular player. It was just a lot more fun to see Derrick Thomas and Neal Smith sack him than to see him drive to win the game

I agree that Marino deserved a ring and it's too bad he never got one.

Currently, I think Tony Gonzales deserves a ring. The guy is quite possibly the best Tight End to ever play the game of football.

Oh, and Will Shields. Future Hall-of-Famer and one of the best Guards ever. What an unglorious but necessary position.

The same can be said of Kendell Gammon, one of the best long-snappers out there.



Yeah, I focus a lot on Chiefs players Not saying that other people don't deserve it, I just know the Chiefs way better than any other team so I see the guys who really deserve it and are often much overlooked.


-sj loves kevin spacey

 

I like most of the above...my list...kind of a shame these guys didn't get one:

- Charles Barkley: Not only cause of Jordan but the Sixers failed to build around him and he got to Houston too late.
- Patrick Ewing
- Reggie Miller
- Dan Marino and his 2 fave targets:
- Mark Clayton
- Mark Duper
- Chris Mullen
- Barry Sanders

 

Just a thought on the whole Dan Marino thing:

Had he played on a championship caliber team, he would not have put up the spectacular numbers he did:

Marino Records:
Most TD passes
Most attempts
Most completions
Most yards

These are all great personal achievements for a quarterback, but they are also signs that your team is behind, your defense isn't stopping the other guys' offense (thus you get so much time on offense) and that you have zero running game.

So is Marino one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time? Certainly. Would he have put up these numbers if he had been on a team with a better defense and running attack? Definitely not. Like Dan Fouts, another of the greatest QBs of all time, he played on a team with good recievers, good pass protection, and pure crap in all other positions. So, while he deserves a place in Canton, Ohio, it is hard for me to say "he deserves a ring", as stated above, rings are earned, not deserved.

 

I totally agree with Largent. He's still remembered fondly, here in Seattle. In fact, I saw a few #80 jerseys at the Seahawks game on Monday night. But it's a shame that he seems to be forgotten elsewhere.

 

"Had he played on a championship caliber team, he would not have put up the spectacular numbers he did:"



What? He wouldn't have put up spectacular numbers... Are you serious!? Wow, If he would have had the defence that the Dolphins have now, and Ricky Wlliams at the running back position -- the Dolphins would have been unstoppable! And his numbers, you think there off the chart now: his numbers would have been even better. I have no doubt with that team, he would have won 2 or 3 championships (easy). The running wouldn't have put a dent in his numbers, but it would have gave the dolpins the ground attack that they so desprately needed. His numbers would have still been there, regardless... I mean you don't just shut down the most feared passer in NFL history, just for the sake of running the ball. I mean just thinking about that team sends chills down my spine (A fools dream), but it would have put the icying on the cake, and cemented his legacy as the greatest QB ever. That will never happen. To say his numbers wouldn't have been spectacular becuase he had a championship team - I don't know where you're coming from with that. By the way take a look at the 1984 season when he took his team to the superbowl ( a championship team): he had the most dominating season by a QB in NFL history.

 

KG deserves a ring- he's been surrounded by a garbage supporting cast. For all the crap Billy King and Isiah get as GMs, McHale is right up there with them in terms of being atrocious.

I would have liked to see Stockton get one, he was a pretty sweet.

I want to see LT get one- he's too good NOT to get one at some point in his career.

Dan Marino is another one, for sure.

I wish Ted Williams had been able to get a ring.

 

Eh, i'm pretty glad Charles Barkley never won anything.

He's sort of in that "Barry Bonds" group of athletes where i thank the heavens that there is SOME black mark on his record that will always make people question his greatness.

EDIT: Ty Cobb probably deserved a ring, considering he was one of the greatest hitters of all-time.

 

He went to my high school. My art teacher used to point at random stools and say "Dan Marino sat there...".

 

you're glad bonds and barkley don't have a ring but you think one of the most racist guys to ever pick up a bat should have one?

 

I really wanted Reggie Miller to get one. He was loyal to the city, loyal to the Pacers organization and a great player. There aren't too many players that do that anymore. He could have split to chase a ring with the Lakers, like Malone.

I'm glad the Lakers went to crap when Malone arrived there.