My Favorite Players Who Aren't On My Favorite Teams

     When you watch a lot of SportsCenter, you start to see a lot of players who you normally wouldn't see from just watching your own team.  Sometimes, you see these players do so well, you want them to be on your team.  During baseball seasons, I always used to have a running list of 3 or 4 players who I used to follow who weren't on my favorite team.  The first player I was really like this for was Torii Hunter, then of the Twins, and I was lucky enough to see him sign a 5-year contract with my favorite team a few years ago.  I started taking this concept to other sports too, and eventually I started to have quite a few players I followed across several sports who I liked to keep track of.  Here are some of my current favorite players not on my favorite team, and a brief description on why I like them.

Jason Heyward, OF, Atlanta Braves:

Associated Press



     These days, baseball prospects are a dime a dozen.  Every team seems to think they have the next great baseball player.  Most of them don't.  Jason Heyward had a huge amount of hype on him last year in his rookie year.  I made a point to watch the Braves opening game so I could see him.  The baseball world was anxiously waiting his debut, and for most people that pressure would be a lot to handle.  So what did Heyward do in his first at-bat?  Hammered a pitch over the right field fence.  It may have just been one pitch, but it was enough for me to know I liked this guy, and was ready to see more.  He had a decent rookie year batting .272 with 18 HR and 72 RBI, but he is poised to be a 30 HR and 100 RBI type of guy every season.

DeMarcus Ware, LB, Dallas Cowboys:

Greg Nelson/SI



     I'm a Redskins fan, so I'm not supposed to like DeMarcus Ware, but he seems to be the ideal kind of football player to like.  He's a physical beast, he plays through injuries, and he plays harder than any player in the NFL.  He's also good for at least 10 sacks every year, and is one of the most dominant defensive players in football.  From all the reports I've heard, he's also an incredible person too.  Unfortunately, it seems more rare than ever than an athlete is a good person too.  So I hope the best for DeMarcus Ware, just not against the Redskins.

Rick Ankiel, OF, Washington Nationals:

     Rick Ankiel came up through the minor leagues in the St. Louis Cardinals organization.  Except he came up as a pitcher.  He was a top pitching prospect too, and a pretty solid starter for a couple of seasons for the Cardinals.  Ankiel developed a control problem, to the point where he started setting Major League records for the amount of wild pitches he threw.  It started getting in his head, and he never could fix his control issues.  So once he got to the point where it was clear he would not be a major league pitcher, he talked the organization about back down to the minor leagues about being an outfielder.  It took him 3 years to return from his last season pitching to a major league outfielder.  For those who aren't very familiar with pitchers in baseball, they can't hit at all.  Even the ones who can hit, can't really hit.  So for Ankiel to make the majors as a pitcher, and then again as an outfielder was amazing to me.  Also, I really am holding out hope his team gets into an emergency situation where they run out of pitchers, and they bring him in from the outfield to pitch.

Tim Tebow, QB, Denver Broncos:

     I like Tim Tebow for a couple of reasons, but the first is a reason most people like a player not on their team.  This reason is of course, he's on my fantasy football team.  So mostly I like him because I want to win the caysh, but also I hate when a player does great in college football, and all of the expert analysts say they cant cut it in the NFL.  I had the same thoughts when they said Charlie Ward, the Heisman trophy winning QB from Florida State couldn't cut it because he was too short, or Eric Crouch, the Heisman trophy winning QB from Nebraska, couldn't cut it because he ran the option offense in college.  Tim Tebow got to play a little toward the end of this season, and he looked exactly as good as he did in college.  Playing quarterback by running and throwing the ball, and taking big hits in the process.  Tim Tebow being successful in the NFL could be huge for the sport, and maybe some of these college-style quarterbacks will start looking better to NFL scouts.

Any former Maryland football and basketball player:

     I realize this one isn't quite the same as the other ones, because at one point they were on my favorite college team.  I like to follow the guys through their pro careers though, because good players from a school only does good things for the program, and also because I rooted for these players very heavily in college, and I'm in general just not ready to stop rooting for them. 

Honorable Mention Favorite Players:

Cliff Lee, SP, Philadelphia Phillies
Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians
Manning brothers, QBs, Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants
Nick Markakis, OF, Baltimore Orioles
Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers
Brian Vickers, #83 Red Bull Toyota driver
Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints
John Wall, PG, Washington Wizards

     If you have any players you like who aren't on your favorite team, write about them in the comments!