The best athletes never to win a championship

Quarterbacks take on a greater onus when it comes to “never winning a championship” than any other player in football or other sports. To that end, Marino still stands as the foremost example of a quarterback who never lifted the Lombardi Trophy. Before pass-happy NFL football reshaped the record books, Marino’s offensive output stood out. He made one Super Bowl in his time with the Dolphins, but never managed to win it all.

The cloud of PEDs casts a shadow on Bonds’ career to some. However you slice it, he is the home run king of MLB and, for our money, the best hitter in MLB history. One thing is not up for debate, though, and that’s the fact Bonds never won a World Series. He didn’t win with the Pirates or the Giants, and once baseball seemed to agree (collude?) he was persona non grata in MLB, he never got the chance to keep chasing that ring.

Malone did get to do some ring chasing. One of the NBA’s all-time leading scorers, “The Mailman” had a couple chances with the Jazz, but ran into Michael Jordan (and Scottie Pippen). At the end of his career, he jumped over to the Lakers to team with Kobe and Shaq to try and win it all. Indeed, the star-studded Lakers made it to the 2004 NBA Finals, but were bested by the star-free Detroit Pistons. No ring was delivered to Malone.

It’s early, yes, but McDavid is the best active NHL player, well, period, which means he is the best without a Cup. He won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP even though the Oilers lost in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final to the Panthers. McDavid could retire today and walk into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He’s the best player of his generation, and primed to enter the upper echelon with names like “Gretzky” and “Lemieux.” If he doesn’t lift a Cup, well, he would be by far the best NHL player not to do so.

“Mr. Cub” played his entire MLB career in Chicago. He also played during a time when there was no wild card. You won the pennant, you played in the World Series. Otherwise, you were out of luck. Banks also played during a notable century-plus title drought for the Cubbies. Banks won two MVPs. He never played a single playoff game.

It almost feels impossible that Moss never won a Super Bowl. He played for the Patriots in the era of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick! While perhaps the second-best receiver ever set records with the Pats and played in two Super Bowls, those happened to be the Super Bowls the Pats lost during their dynastic run. Also, Moss only played three full seasons with New England before he began the final days of his career.

We mentioned Malone. We should also mention Stockton. The point guard is still the career leader in assists and steals in NBA history (and honestly is not likely to be caught on either front). Playing his entire career with the Jazz, though, leaves him without a ring. Of course, now that Stockton is an antivax COVID-conspiracy weirdo, we don’t necessarily feel too bad for him.

Speaking of people we don’t feel too bad for! With Chuck, it’s not so much because of his personal life (though he’s done plenty of dodgy things). No, it’s because he’s made an insane amount of money as a TV personality and is a beloved media icon even though he is in many ways empirically bad at his job. On the court, though, he was empirically great at his job. Barkley won an MVP and played in 11 All-Star Games, but the closest he came to a title was in 1993, when the Suns lost to the Bulls in the NBA Finals.

There was once a time when the Houston Astros were not perennial title contenders. Bagwell, who played his entire career with Houston, can attest to that. His Hall of Fame career made him a franchise legend, and that includes his MVP win in 1994. While he didn’t win a title, did you know Bagwell was sneakily a quality base runner? He stole over 200 bases as a first baseman, which is rare.

You can throw an asterisk on this if you want. Baylor played nine games for the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers before retiring. That team went on to win the title. The franchise gave him a ring, but of course they did. He’s a Lakers icon! We don’t count that as Baylor “winning a title,” though. Given that he played his entire career with the Lakers, it seems impossible he didn’t win a championship, but it’s true. Those damn Celtics, right?

If we didn’t include members of the famed Buffalo Bills teams that lost four Super Bowls in a row, we would be shirking our responsibilities on a list such as this. Smith isn’t the only Bill to pop up here, but we went with him first, because he was the best player of the bunch. He’s the NFL’s all-time sack leader, after all. He’s the only player to hit the 200-sack mark. If you’re curious, no active player is within 70 sacks of him. His record is safe for now.

Trout is a future Hall of Famer, though sadly injuries have put the kibosh on him going down as one of the best handful of players of all-time. Also, sadly he has pledged his career to the Angels, who have time and time again failed to build around him. It’s cool when a player, especially these days, decides to be a one-franchise guy. We just wish, you know, it was a better franchise.

Travis Kelce has probably stolen Gonzalez’s crown as the best tight end to ever do it, but at least Gonzalez remains the best tight end to never win a Super Bowl. That’s something…right? He still has the most catches and receiving yards for any tight end. Hell, only Jerry Rice and Larry Fitzgerald (spoiler alert?) have more catches full stop. Gonzalez was an elite receiver playing the position of tight end. All that eluded him was a single Super Bowl ring.

Time has marched on, and guys like Alex Ovechkin and Jaromir Jagr have pushed past him, but let’s not get it twisted: Dionne was one of the best goal scorers the NHL ever saw. His 731 goals still rank sixth. If Sidney Crosby doesn’t really get after it, no active player this side of McDavid is likely to make a run at passing Dionne. Legends of the game have come and gone since Dionne hung up his skates in 1989. Only a few have managed to pass him.

A goaltender getting hot can carry a team deep into the NHL playoffs. Luongo had several playoff opportunities, but never won a Cup. He got close with Vancouver, within one game, but he never got over the hump. Luongo’s career is an interesting one. He never won a Vezina, but finished in the top five in voting five times. He’s second in games played and, for what it’s worth, fourth in wins. Luongo waltzed into the Hall of Fame, but he didn’t bring much of a trophy case with him.

Iverson was a seismic force in the NBA. The undersized point guard became a star thanks to his dribbling skills and remarkable ability to get to the net. While his inefficiency would be chastised today, that didn’t matter when he led the NBA in points per game four times with the 76ers. Iverson carried the Sixers to one final averaging 32.9 points per game, but the Lakers juggernaut of 2001 steamrolled them.

When you think of old-timey baseball names, Cobb is one of the first that comes to mind. He was part of the first Baseball Hall of Fame class and hit over .400 in three seasons. Cobb tallied a whopping 12 batting titles, but he and the Tigers never managed to win a World Series in his career.

Back to those infamous Buffalo Bills. Smith was the star on the Bills defense, but the offense was propelled by running back Thurman Thomas as well as quarterback Kelly. Operating with a pace and openness not common in offenses at the time, Thomas was able to rack up 3,000-yard seasons and in his best campaign had 33 touchdown passes. He never won an MVP in the NFL (but he did in the USFL!), but Kelly made it into the Hall and did quarterback the team to four Super Bowls in a row.

The change in NBA basketball has chipped into Miller’s legacy a bit. The career-long Pacer was one of the first prominent three-point shooters. When he retired, Miller had more threes than anybody in NBA history. He was passed by Ray Allen first, and since then three-happy NBA players of the modern generation are going to push him out of the top five soon enough. In his era, though, Miller was the king of the three.

It’s a little surprising Nash won MVP twice, but he was undeniably a great player. The Canadian point guard is in the 50/40/90 club four times over and led the NBA in assists per game five times. With the Suns, Nash helped orchestrate the “Seven Seconds or Less” offense that helped revamp the NBA. He then joined the Lakers and, well, it worked out even worse for Nash than it did for Karl Malone.

If you are debating the best running back of all-time, Sanders is a popular pick. He would have retired as the all-time leading rusher in NFL history if he hadn’t decided to abruptly retire. Of course, he may not have decided to abruptly retire if the Lions had shown any real potential for winning the Super Bowl. He did actually make five playoff appearances with the Lions, but they never played in a Super Bowl, a fact that remains true about the franchise.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the Original Six NHL teams. In franchise history, they have 13 Cups. None of them have been won since 1967, giving the Leafs the longest title drought in the NHL at present. Though he started his career with the Quebec Nordiques, Sundin made his name with the Maple Leafs. He became the team’s captain, a beloved figure in Toronto, and the franchise’s all-time leader in goals and points. What Sundin didn’t do, though, is help deliver a Cup.

While Paul is still playing, his ring-chasing days might be over. That’s the feeling given that he joined a Spurs team that, while featuring the exciting Victor Wembenyama, is not a title contender. Well, CP3 is about to turn 40, and he became an afterthought with the Warriors in his last grasp at a ring. Even if he doesn’t get a title, the man they call “The Point God” is in the top three in career assists and steals. He’s basically the heir apparent to John Stockton, though the “no title” part is not a good part of that.

The Chargers did not regret trading out of the chance to draft Michael Vick and ending up with Tomlinson. He led the NFL in rushing yards twice, and in rushing touchdowns three times. In 2006, when he won NFL MVP, LT set an NFL record for rushing touchdowns with 28, and total touchdowns with 33. Oh, and once he had 100 catches in a season as a running back.

Much like Banks, Williams is a franchise legend who spent his career with a franchise that was in the midst of an infamous title drought. The last player to hit .400 in a season (probably ever, at this rate), Williams won two MVPs and hit for two Triple Crowns. Of course, playing for the Red Sox through the ‘40s and ‘50s, he didn’t win a World Series. Unlike Banks, he did play in one.

Yes, Harden is polarizing. His defense is spotty, his effort comes and goes, and his style of play isn’t for everybody. You can’t argue with his success, though. Harden averaged over 30 points per game three seasons in a row. He’s also led the NBA in assists per game twice as well. “The Beard” is going to retire in the top 15 in points, assists, and three-pointers. Like it or not, Harden is a clear future Hall of Famer. He might just make it without a ring.

In her first three seasons in the WNBA, Charles led the league in rebounding. During that time, she would win Rookie of the Year and MVP. Later, she would win two scoring titles. While Charles experienced plenty of winning at UConn, in the WNBA she has yet to win a title.

How about a little love for the oft-overlooked offensive linemen? Munoz is a fine place to start on that front. In 2022, the offensive tackle was named the best ever at his position by a panel of experts brought together by ESPN. The Bengals’ icon was first-team All-Pro nine times! Unfortunately, the Bengals are still waiting for their first title.

McGrady knew how to get buckets. He averaged over 24 points per game seven seasons in a row, leading the league twice. T-Mac was also well known for his lack of playoff success. As one of the top guys on a team, he never made it out of the first round. In his final season, McGrady was a hanger-on with a Spurs team that made it to the NBA Finals, but they lost to the Heat, so no ring for T-Mac.

Lindros got himself on the wrong foot with many within the NHL, and with many NHL fans, by refusing to play for the Nordiques after they drafted him first overall. Hockey being the ultimate “sacrifice for the team” sport, that didn’t go over well. He was also then plagued with a reputation for not being “tough” because he didn’t want to play through post-concussion syndrome, which is an area in which the general consensus, fortunately, now sides with him. Lindros’ career was cut short by his concussion issues, but he averaged over a point per game in his career and made the Hall of Fame. He played in a Cup final with the Flyers, but was swept by the Red Wings.

With eight batting titles and five Gold Gloves, Gwynn was skilled in many ways. Probably the best player in Padres history, he made 15 All-Star Games. While he never batted under .309 in a full MLB season, Gwynn also never won a World Series. Sadly, he also died young, as cancer and cardiac arrest joined forces to bring Gwynn’s life to a close at the age of 54.

Fittingly, McCoughtry was a dream selection for the Atlanta Dream. In addition to leading the league in scoring twice, she made first-time All-Defense a whopping seven times. The only nightmare? A lack of a title for the Dream, or for McCoughtry. She also had the misfortune of moving from the Dream to the Las Vegas Aces but retiring before the Aces won two titles in a row in 2022 and 2023.

Griffey was the biggest star in baseball for a while there in the ‘90s. He even had his own video game! As the centerpiece for the Seattle Mariners, Griffey led the AL in home runs four times and won 10 Gold Gloves. Fun fact: The Mariners are the only MLB franchise never to play in the World Series! Even when he moved to the Reds, Griffey did not find much postseason success, and he also wasn’t the same player.

The focal point of the first NBA Draft Lottery (and perhaps the NBA’s grandest conspiracy theory), the hype was justified. Ewing won Rookie of the Year with the Knicks to start off his Hall of Fame career. He also played in the Eastern Conference alongside Michael Jordan and the Bulls for the bulk of their respective careers. It’s not a coincidence his trip to the Finals came in 1994, during Jordan’s brief retirement. The Rockets beat the Knicks, and Ewing never got his ring.

Let’s stay in New York, where Lundqvist is the most beloved goalie in Rangers history. They call the Hall of Famer “King Henrik” for a reason. Lundqvist never left the Rangers, and holds most of their goaltending records. He won a Vezina with the team as well. Unfortunately, while Lundqvist went to the final in New York, he didn’t get that ring. To be fair, the Rangers have one title since 1940.

That Rangers title? It came in 1994, and it came against Bure and the Canucks. “The Russian Rocket” was so dynamic on the ice, even in a career waylaid by knee injuries (and a tempestuous personality). He scored over 50 goals five times, and this was in an era where you could count on one hand the number of guys who hit 50 in a given season. Bure had 16 goals in that 1994 run to the finals, but it was not quite enough.

Winning multiple Cy Youngs and winning a World Series tend to go hand-in-hand. The overlap isn’t 100 percent, though. Santana won two Cy Youngs, and also pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history. Whether with the Mets or Twins, though, he didn’t win a World Series. Maybe he just needed another Cy, as every pitcher with three or more does have a ring.

We mentioned Fitzgerald earlier, and here he is. When arguments abound about the second-best receiver ever after Rice, Fitzgerald doesn’t usually come up. That’s not just because he was a career-long Cardinal. Fitzgerald played for a long time, and he was great, but he just never had the dynamism of a Moss or Terrell Owens. He was only first-team All-Pro once in a 17-season career. Even so, a guy who is in the top six in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns without a Super Bowl clearly belongs on this list.

Soccer players are essentially not found on this list. Most of the all-timers have a domestic title in Europe, or a Champions League title. However, a list like this has to include Kane, even if he stands in for all the soccer players who might belong here. He’s the best English goal scorer ever. He’s also never won a trophy of note, much less a league title. Even when he moved to Bayern Munich, its decade-long Bundesliga title reign was snapped that very season!

There are so many NASCAR races that the best drivers, and even the second- and third-tier drivers, tend to win at least one in their career. Childress ran in 285 NASCAR races. He finished in the top 10 76 times. However, he never won a NASCAR race. Does his name ring a bell, though? Well, he owns Richard Childress Racing, the team that has featured drivers such as Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, and, oh yeah, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Okay, with tennis it was effectively impossible to include a notable player without a single tournament win. So, we opted for a slight caveat of a tennis player without a Grand Slam tournament win, and thus also limited ourselves to one. Rios was an easy choice there. He is, to date, the only man to be ranked number one in the world at some point but to never win a Grand Slam title in his career. The Chilean topped out in making the finals of the 1998 Australian Open.

What about on the women’s side of things, tennis wise? Dementieva is our pick. She never got to number one, but the Russian hit as high as third-ranked, and she was in the top 10 for half a decade. Dementieva made it to two finals, both in 2004, but lost both of them. She made the semis on seven other occasions, but there was no title to be found.

For golf we have the same rules as tennis, but replace “Grand Slam” with “major.” Monty had such a successful career we would have assumed he won at least one major. To be fair, he was oh-so-close enough you could convince yourself he did it. The Scottish golfer was once ranked second, which is the defining ordinal number of his career. He was the runner-up at five major tournaments.

Rankin was Tiger before Tiger… sort of. Obviously, she didn’t have similar success, or she wouldn’t be on this list. What we mean is that she was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16 and joined the LPGA tour as a professional at 17. She would win 26 LPGA events in her Hall of Fame career. Twice she was the LPGA Player of the Year. For whatever reason, Rankin just never won a major. On four occasions she was a runner-up, but she didn’t get a win in any of the majors tournaments of her era.

First, Carter was known for his dynamic athleticism. He was responsible for what will likely go down as the quintessential Dunk Contest performance. Then, he was known for playing forever. Carter debuted in 1999 and retired in 2020, playing into his forties. Yeah, he got into a bit of a journeyman thing, playing for eight teams total, but it was a fun, successful career, aside from the lack of a ring.

Iginla debuted in the thick of the neutral-zone trap era, lost a season of his prime to a lockout, and still finished with 675 career goals. Now that’s a quality player. The Flames legend got them to a final, but they lost in seven to the Lightning. Even when he started chasing a ring, he fell just short with the Penguins and Bruins. Now, his son Tij has become the first-ever pick of the Utah Hockey Club, because time comes for us all.

If Marino is the best (retired) quarterback never to win a Super Bowl, Fouts has a good argument for being the best to never even play in one. He was the first signal caller elected to the Hall of Fame never to play in a championship game. As the trigger man in the “Air Coryell” offense for the Chargers, Fouts led the NFL in passing yards four times. He played in three AFC Championship games. He just never got to the big game.

We did for a second think, “Wait, did Gervin win an ABA title, and would that count?” In the end, we didn’t have to hem and haw, because he didn’t win a title in the ABA or NBA with the Spurs. “The Ice Man” was a bucket getter of the highest order, leading the league in scoring a whopping four times. Eventually, San Antonio would become a quasi-dynasty, but not in Gervin’s days.

You get name dropped by Adam Sandler AND you make the Baseball Hall of Fame? You earn a spot on this list! Carew played in a whopping 18 All-Star Games. If you don’t consider that an ideal measurement for success, he won seven batting titles as well. Those don’t get voted on. Both the Twins and Angels retired his number, even though he didn’t win a World Series with either.

To us, Tarkenton is so quintessentially a Viking we tend to forget in the middle of his career he spent five seasons with the Giants. Those five seasons are surrounded by 13 with the Vikings. Also, he was really good late into his career. Tarkenton debuted in 1961 and won his MVP in 1975. He led the NFL in passing yards (and, um, interceptions) in 1978, the same season he retired. Even with that lengthy career, there would be no Super Bowls.

Johnson’s career was not akin to Tarkenton’s. He only played in nine seasons before getting out of the NFL (and into the cannabis business). And yet, he was so good in those nine seasons that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. “Megatron” was a star for the Lions, and set a new NFL record for receiving yards in a season. Like Barry Sanders, though, he did not play in a Super Bowl in Detroit, which is something no player has done.

Carmelo’s legacy suffers a bit from the fact his friends and classmates in the 2003 NBA Draft LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had better careers and won rings. Chris Bosh, also drafted in 2003, didn’t have quite as good of a career, but he’s in the Hall, and he has rings. That doesn’t mean he didn’t have a great career. Sure, he never made First-Team All-NBA, but he was Second-Team twice and Third-Team four times. Melo is 10th in career scoring. He’s not LeBron or Wade, but he is a Hall of Famer.

For all his generosity, Oates did not receive any thanks from the Stanley Cup. Which, to be fair, is an inanimate object. Oates is one of 14 players with over 1,000 career assists and ranks eighth all-time. His teams made deep playoff runs on a few occasions, and he even played in the finals twice. Unfortunately, though he helped his teammates time and time again, he couldn’t help his team win it all.

While women’s basketball players are, obviously, not as tall as men’s players, Hammon was short even for the women’s hoops, standing a mere 5’6″. Maybe that’s why she ended up at Colorado State, and why she went undrafted by the WNBA. After she found a spot in the league, though, the point guard would make six All-Star Games and lead the league in assists once. Though she did not win a title as a player, she has won two WNBA titles as the coach of the Aces.

If we asked you, “Who had the most points in the NHL in the 1980s?” you would say Wayne Gretzky, and you would be right. If we asked you who was second, and you weren’t reading this article and thus clued into the answer, would you say Peter Stastny? Probably not, but it’s true. Peter and his brother Anton shook up the hockey world when they defected from their native Czechoslovakia, then both extant and part of the Eastern bloc, for the NHL. They were then joined by their brother Marion and the three had a grand old time playing for the Quebec Nordiques. With all due respect, Peter was the best player of the brothers, and also apparently had the best genes. His sons Yan and Paul both played in the NHL. Fittingly, neither ever won a Cup.

You might think, “Yeah sure, Yao was a trailblazer, and he made eight All-Star Games because he had all of China voting for him, but was he really all that good?” Well, China didn’t vote him onto three All-NBA third teams, or two All-NBA second teams. He was a great player who, unfortunately, only lasted eight seasons due to injuries. All that size made him great. It also made it very hard to withstand the rigors of being a professional basketball player.

The collapse of the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, where they memorably led the Patriots 28-3 but would lose 34-28, has somehow come down on the head of Ryan. We’re sorry, was he playing defense there in the second half? Ryan has an MVP to his name, which is more than 99 percent of NFL players can say. He revitalized the Falcons franchise in the wake of the Michael Vick fiasco. Yes, a ring was snatched from his finger in a painful way, but he was not the main culprit.

The Chiefs would admittedly not win a Super Bowl for years after the end of Thomas’ career, but one is still left to wonder. Thomas’ career ended with his life. Speeding through a snowstorm, Thomas drove his car off the interstate. We don’t want to sound preachy, but the passenger who was wearing a seatbelt was uninjured, and the two who weren’t, including Thomas, died. One of the best pass rushers to ever do it (126.5 career sacks, one Defensive Player of the Year award) was cut down at the age of 33 coming off a seven-sack season.

Thornton was a first-overall pick for the Boston Bruins, and he was a very good player for them. The franchise also didn’t always do great by him, and eventually dealt him to the Sharks. There, he became a great player, winning the Art Ross and the Hart the season he was traded. Thornton became a massive playmaker and “Jumbo Joe” also became more disciplined. He couldn’t quite get the Sharks their first title, though, and attempts to win a Cup with Toronto and Florida also fell short.

Peterson is the most recent non-running back to win NFL MVP, and sometimes it feels like he will be the very last. He’s fifth in all-time rushing yards, and while he is behind his contemporary Frank Gore, nobody thinks Gore is a better back. After his fantastic run with the Vikings, Peterson became a journeyman, but it seemed to be more about the valuation of the running back position than a quest to win a ring.

It feels like Westbrook is the only guy who could lead the NBA in assists per game (which he has done three times) and get accused of it being due to his selfishness. The guy became the second player ever to average a triple-double, and then he did it so many times he’s done it four times, the last with the Wizards. Intriguingly, Westbrook begins the 2024-25 season with the Denver Nuggets, so a title could definitely be in the offing.

If offensive linemen don’t get a lot of love, interior offensive lineman get even less. Martin will be in the Hall of Fame someday. Playing his entire career to date with the Cowboys, he’s been a first-team All-Pro a whopping seven times (and second-team twice). Of course, it’s been a while since the Cowboys have won a Super Bowl, a fact you can hear repeated on ESPN every five seconds or so.

A tremendous athlete, Peppers is one of the leading legends in Carolina Panthers history. Though he was never Defensive Player of the Year, 10 times in his career he hit double-digit sacks. He played in a Super Bowl in his sophomore season, but the Patriots beat the Panthers, and Peppers never made it back. When he retired, Peppers was fourth in career sacks.

We will pair the Sedins together, because they always did things together. Like, in that weird way only identical twins do. They played together in Sweden as teens. They finagled a chance to be drafted second overall (Daniel) and third overall (Henrik) by the Canucks. They spent their entire career with Vancouver, and then retired at the exact same time. The Sedin twins are the two highest scorers in Canucks history, with Daniel the top goal scorer and Henrik the top assist man. Henrik has a few more points having played in 23 more games. At least the Sedins didn’t get injured together as well.

Biggio probably would have been the best base-stealing catcher of all-time, had the Astros not moved him to second base. That worked out fine, as Biggio won four Gold Gloves there, and also four Silver Sluggers. He joined forces with Jeff Bagwell to be the cornerstones of the Astros for a long time. As we noted with Bagwell, though, the team never won a World Series during that run.

There are two guys with over 500 career saves. They are also the two guys with over 600 career saves. One of them is Mariano Rivera. We don’t need to tell you he has a few rings. The other is Hoffman. One of the sport’s defining closers, Hoffman spent the bulk of his career with the Padres, a franchise without a World Series to its name. San Diego made it to the World Series in 1998, but was swept by the Yankees. Rivera had three saves in that postseason.

Who among the active NBA players we haven’t mentioned is in a “the clock is ticking” situation? Luka Doncic is the best player in the NBA without a ring, but he’s also probably got a decade left to his career, so we won’t go there yet. Lillard is in his mid-thirties, though. He’s probably punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame at this point, but a ring would be great for his legacy. Having left Portland to team with Giannis in Milwaukee, he has a chance, but…the clock is ticking for Dame Time.

There’s a lot of pressure on quarterbacks to win a ring, but they aren’t the only ones. Other greats of the game could get the “never won a title” designation if they never lift the Lombardi Trophy. McCaffrey is certainly in the running for the best back of his generation as a three-time first-team All-Pro with an Offensive Player of the Year award as well. By the way, he didn’t win that award the year he became the third back to ever have over 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards. He’s been to the Super Bowl with the 49ers, but the life of the NFL running back is tough. Already in his late twenties, and having dealt with injuries, how many more cracks will McCaffrey have?

Harper has justified all the hype. We won’t hear arguments to the contrary. He won Rookie of the Year and he’s won MVP twice. He’s even beloved in Philadelphia, hard to do as a local athlete that hasn’t brought a title to town. Harper is still in his prime, and baseball players have longer careers than NFL running backs, but there’s definitely a spotlight on the guy Sports Illustrated called the “Chosen One” when he was in high school.

Some have quibbled with Karlsson’s defensive acumen. We say that if you have the puck all the time and are generating offense, you are still helping your team defensively. Karlsson is a three-time Norris winner and one of the best offensive defensemen to ever do it. During the 2015-16 season, he led the NHL in assists. Not just among defensemen. Overall. In 2022-23, he became the fifth defenseman to have over 100 points in a season. After that, Karlsson joined the Penguins, but that team’s title-winning core is aging. Is he too late to get a ring?

Yes, it’s early, as Jackson is still in his twenties and has only completed six NFL seasons. However, the polarizing quarterback will be “Yeah but he never won a ring!”-ed more than anybody in NFL history if he doesn’t win a ring. His unorthodox style (and the color of his skin) has played a part for his skeptics and naysayers from the beginning. Jackson’s passing skills have dipped here and there, but his running skills haven’t. He’s the best rushing quarterback in history, and he already has two MVPs with the Ravens.

Freshly retired, Votto is in the pantheon of Canadian baseball players, and he’s likely going to make it to the Hall of Fame. When he does, he will be a reflection of the modern Hall of Famer. Votto only hit 356 homers and had just over 2,100 hits overall. However, he hit .294, and more importantly had a .409 OBP. He led MLB in OBP three times, and also won a Gold Glove and MVP. Great player, interesting personality, never a champion.

Now that Sergei Bobrovsky is a champ, only one player with multiple Vezina trophies doesn’t have a Stanley Cup ring. Perhaps fittingly, he won his second Vezina the same season Bob got his Cup. One of the last workhorse goalies in existence, Hellebuyck is the best goalie any iteration of the Winnipeg Jets has ever had. Now he needs a Cup to avoid being the only person with multiple Vezinas and more Wings. Well, or he needs Igor Shesterkin or Linus Ullmark to win a second Vezina without getting a title.

Only three people have ever won Defensive Player of the Year three times. Both Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald won Super Bowls. Watt never did. In spite of everything he did to elevate the Houston Texans, Watt never got to play in the NFL’s biggest game. T.J., J.J.’s brother, has one Defensive Player of the Year and is still active, but if he doesn’t get a title he’ll probably be on a list like this in the future.

Embiid is the face of the 76ers post-“The Process” in good ways and bad. He’s become a great player and won an MVP. Embiid has led the NBA in scoring twice. He’s also done it all with a ton of injuries and hasn’t made it to an NBA Finals. Also, Embiid is older than you might realize, as he turned 30 during the 2023-24 season. As a seven-footer with a history of injuries, he may only have so many bites left at the apple. Good luck to him.