By: Theresa Christine Etim
When it comes to professional sports, it might be expected that the country’s top players might have come from some of the country’s top teams and divisions, but that’s not entirely true. Whether you aspire to play pro sports, are a sports fan, or just love a good come up, below, are a list of professional sports players who had their start in recreational or non-professional teams.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ Jim Morris
Morris’ story is one of those rare ones that can qualify as tearjerker according to Bleacher Report. The now-renowned baseball player started off as any young man did, but only ended up fairing out in minor league baseball. Once that ended, he decided to leave and become a high school teacher and baseball coach, but was strongly influenced by his students to not give up and tryout of the major leagues. He did, and became a major league superstar for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the age of 35. Ah yes, a tearjerker indeed. And apparently Disney thought so too, as the movie The Rookie is based off of his life.
Arizona Diamondbacks’ David Peralta
Plagued by two shoulder injuries that delayed his career, there wasn’t much else for Peralta to do than to work at McDonalds while playing at Rio Grande Valley’s Independent North American Baseball League, where he was learning outfield. Fast-forward to 2014 and he gets signed by the Diamondbacks only to get a promotion and enact career-defining plays just a year later. Now that’s determination.
Boston Bruins’ Tim Thomas
Much like Peralta, “good thing come to those who wait” can also be applied to Boston Bruins’ Tim Thomas, who spent a decade clawing through different leagues, only to play a mere four games with the Bruins and leave for Finland. At 31, he came back to the Bruins only to win an MVP award a few years later at 36 and help the Bruins win the Stanley World Cup that same year. A short but impactful career indefinitely.
Some of have a clear path set for our lives and some of us don’t, but this list defiantly proves that sometimes, the road less traveled can turn out to be a good thing.
