10 Things: Unlikely sports journeys

Warren Moon (NFL QB; 1984 to 2000): Moon was the first player to be inducted into both the CFL and NFL Hall of Fame, but he went undrafted in the 1978 NFL draft. He joined the Edmonton Eskimos where he won five consecutive Grey Cups and earned a second chance at the NFL with the Houston Oilers in 1984. Moon made the Pro Bowl nine times in the next decade, and retired in 2000 with his career numbers for yards, attempts, touchdowns and completions all in the top-five of all-time.

Jose Calderon (NBA PG; 2005 to present): Calderon started his professional basketball career in Spain in 1998, quickly gaining a reputation as a talented playmaker. Toronto Raptors General Manager Rob Babcock persuaded the point guard to join the NBA in 2005. Calderon currently plays for the New York Knicks, and holds the NBA record for the best free-throw percentage in a season, converting 151 of 154 shots in  the 2008-2009 year.

Peter Šťastný (NHL C; 1980 to 1995): Forbidden to play in the NHL by Czechoslovakia’s communist government in the ’70s, Šťastný and his brother Anton defected to Canada in 1980 to play for the Quebec Nordiques. Peter would go on to become one of the greatest players ever and setting 18 records, some of them still standing today.

Jamie Vardy (PL Striker; 2014 to present): After spending the first decade of his soccer career bouncing around a number of semi-professional clubs in the bottom ranks of the English Football League system, Vardy signed with Leicester City in the Football League Championship for a non-league record transfer fee of £1 million in 2012. A season after being promoted to the Premier League in 2014, Vardy scored in a record 11 consecutive matches, breaking Ruud van Nistelrooy’s 12-year-old Premier League record.

Matt Stairs (MLB 1B; 1992 to 2011): It’s rare for a player to make it through the 40 rounds of the MLB draft without being noticed by any team, but that’s what happened to the New Brunswick-native in 1989. Signed by the desperate Montreal Expos in 1992, Stairs enjoyed a two-decade career in which he played for 12 different teams, set the MLB record for career pinch-hit home runs, and was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Wes Welker (NFL TE; 2004 to present): Despite setting the NCAA record for most career punt-return touchdowns at Texas Tech, Welker was not invited to the NFL combine, and went undrafted. After making a name for himself with the Miami Dolphins, Welker broke out with the New England Patriots, where he became a five-time Pro Bowler and played in two Super Bowls.

John Starks (NBA SG; 1990 to 2002): Starks earned a tryout with the New York Knicks before the 1990 season after going undrafted in 1988. An ill-advised dunk over Patrick Ewing ended in a knee injury for Starks, and the Knicks were not allowed to release him unless he was fully healed by December, forcing the team to keep him on the roster. Starks performed well after returning from injury and became the Knicks’ starting shooting guard for rest of the decade.

Martin St. Louis (NHL RW; 1998 to 2015): The one-time Hart winner, two-time scoring champion and three-time Lady Byng recipient has played  in over 1,000 games and scored over 1,000 points in the NHL since going unnoticed in the 1997 draft after a disappointing senior year at the University of Vermont.

Kurt Warner (NFL QB; 1998 to 2009): After going undrafted in the 1994 draft, Warner was forced to stock shelves at a grocery store for $5.50 an hour to make ends meet before landing an Arena Football League Contract. In 1998, the St. Louis Rams picked him as their third-string QB and he made his first career start in the following season. He would go on to earn four Pro Bowl appearances, two MVP awards, a Super Bowl ring, and would retire with 22 NFL records.