Legends
A half century of Boston sports
No sports fan believes their team’s going to win the championship every year. Part of why we watch is that we love the uniform, and there’s almost always must-see players.
In my sports viewing lifetime, starting in 1980, my four teams have been blessed with so many great players. Below I try to quantify the legends per team per year. I wanted to see when we had the least and most legends, and to see how today (2025) compares to the past.
Some of the players on the list are obvious. Certainly, winning a championship helps elevate players to legend status. Many all-time greats passed through Boston, but Rickey Henderson for 72 games or Shaq with no ankles didn’t make the list. We could certainly argue the players I’ve included or omitted.
From this exercise I concluded it’s important to have a continuity of legends. Cousy played with Russell who played with Havlicek who played with Cowens who played with Bird. When that stretch broke, we had some bad teams.
Writers note: The colorful graphs certainly look better on my 32” monitor than a phone. You might have to zoom and squint to read them, but I assure you they are 99% accurate. Get your quant mind going a bit.
Boston Celtics
Since 1980 there have been three periods when the Celtics have had at least four legends. Each time has led to a Boston championship. The peak year of legends was 1987, when the big three, DJ, Ainge and Walton were teammates of Reggie Lewis, a Boston born star whose time ended in tragedy.
After that, head coach Rick Pitino was absolutely right. From 1994 through 1997 no legends walked through the Celtics door, save perhaps president Red Auerbach. I could have included Antoine Walker as a legend during this bleak time, but anyone who watched Toine heave up three after clanging three knows it just wasn’t that enjoyable to watch.
Paul Pierce was the lone star for nine seasons before Ray, KG and Rondo joined the C’s. It could have been three championships with that group, but the stars have to align just right. Nonetheless, with those four players leading the C’s it was always great to watch.
There was a dip when only Rondo and Isaiah Thomas remained (I can still hear Tommy yelling “The Little Guy!”), but those two bridged the gap to the next crop of legends.
Now we have Tatum and Brown. Two stars alone is not enough, but in 2025 we’re in another Celtics golden age. We have six legends on the team, and I could very well have added Payton Pritchard to that group - who doesn’t want to see the smallest guy on the court dominate? In time maybe I will, but for Boston fans, the Celtics are New England’s number one team right now. They’re an absolute must watch because we’re at another peak. None of our other teams are even close.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins are almost always good. Watching on Channel 38 as a kid it was fun to watch the brawling, helmetless Bruins compete year after year, even if they never won it all. Bourque and Neely were true greats, but twice their teams were knocked off by the likes of Gretsky, Kuri and Messier. The Oilers had better star power.
The Bruins had two to four legends for almost two decades, until the early 2000s when we sadly had to export Bourque to Colorado for his Stanley Cup. There were some lean years until Patrice Bergeron showed up in 2003, and for almost another two decades the Bruins were blessed with five or six greats on the team. With that many, year after year we were a top team in the NHL.
It’s hard to not view this era as a missed opportunity with just a lone Stanley Cup. But the stars made it a fun team to watch, especially the 2023 regular season of 65-12-5 (until a Panther attack made it a total tragedy). The retirements of Bergeron and Krejik were huge losses, and right now an aging Brad Marchand and Pasternak are the only true legends on the team. As this analysis shows, two stars is not enough. It’s time for reinforcements.
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox of my youth had fantastic players. Boggs and Rice are in Cooperstown, and Evans could be. The Rocket is a top 5 pitcher all-time, and I felt lucky to watch Clemens mow down hitters with no chance. Four legends got us to a World Series and the ALCS a few times, but alas there was no title.
The early 90’s were a rough patch in Boston sports. Clemens and a young Mo Vaughn were the lone stars on some pretty bad teams.
Who would have guessed the arrival of a former first baseman turned knuckleballer would kick off a time when the Sox would have no fewer than four and up to eleven legendary players during his tenure? Wakefield was never the best player on the Red Sox, but in hindsight we see he was the heart of some incredible teams.
Winning a championship can make a player a legend, and who can argue the 2007 team was not absolutely filled with superb players? It was the meat in a sandwich of three championships in ten seasons. By my count that team had eleven legends. When we got to the World Series against Colorado, I finally shed my lifelong Sox pessimism. With those guys, we were not going to lose.
Across time and space, the chain of legends connect Yaz, Rice, Clemens, Nomar, Manny, Pedroia, Mookie to today. In 2025 we have Devers and perhaps Jarren Duran making our legend count a paltry two. Let’s hope Mayer, Anthony and Campbell are the next crop of legends to keep the Red Sox going.
New England Patriots
Though the Pats of my youth never won it all and, in fact, were humiliated in the Super Bowl by a team that declared victory in Week 14, we had some great players. John Hannah is arguably the best guard of all time, and Steve Grogan put life and limb on the line every week. Andre Tippet’s in the Hall of Fame, and Bruce Armstrong played for fourteen years in between super bowls.
1993 was the key year. We added Bledsoe, Brown and Chris Slade, which lead to annual additions of players like McGinest, Law, Bruschi, Vinatieri, Faulk, Light and Seymour. Those guys combined with TB12 to finally win it all in 2002.
For the next decade the Patriots had no less than 10 legendary players on the roster, including the best quarterback of all time paired with the arguably the number two wide receiver of all time.
The Patriots had Randy Moss and Tom Brady. It’s hard to see how it could ever get that good again.
The Patriots’ legend peak was 2004 with 13. That was part of the first era of TB12. We had less legends in the second era, but we had the legend. The Pats had a 75% chance of winning any game TB12 started. Throw in Gronk, Edleman, Slater and McCourty and we had enough legends for three more rings.
In 2025, however, we’re in arguably the worst legends deficit of the last 45 years. David Andrews is a two-time SB Champ, but he’s a center. NFL teams are built with star players, and beyond rookie QB Drake Maye and oft-injured Christian Gonzalez, the Pats are in sad, sad shape.
Conclusion
Finally, the question you’ve been asking yourself. What does the combined legend yearly count look since 1980?
The Boston Sports legend count peaked in 2007. The Red Sox won the World Series, the Pats went 16-0, the Celtics assembled a new Big 3 and the Bruins were in the midst of an excellent twenty-year run.
Today, we sit at eleven legends, the lowest in the entire 45-year run. If it weren’t for the stacked Celtics, it would be much worse. I’m sure there are some current players that will become legendary, but for now, it’s slim pickings. And yet we will watch.
To close, I’ll borrow a quote from TV land.
“I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days, before you actually left them.”