10 Tri-State Area Franchise Faces Who Looked Awkward In New Places

By Daniel Friedman
» More Columns

On Tuesday, the St Louis Blues officially announced the signing of Martin Brodeur. It's nice to see the surefire Hall of Famer still kicking, but seeing him in anything but a Devils sweater is going to take some getting used to. In fact, we'll probably never get used to it.

Here are 10 franchise cornerstones, including Brodeur, who left their Tri-State Area teams for a last hurrah or two, but just didn't look right sporting different colors:

10. Carl Banks

Banks was a defensive standout for the Giants for eight seasons, two of which ended with Super Bowl titles, but he eventually joined Washington and then Cleveland for a couple of brief stints at the end of his career.

9. Yogi Berra

He eventually cemented his own Mets' legacy, as the first base coach on the 1969 championship squad, but when he first arrived, seeing him in that uniform just didn't look quite right. He was a Yankee, through and through.

8. Andy Pettitte

Yes, going to Houston was a homecoming of sorts for Pettitte. Still, he was one of the constants on those dynastic Yankee teams, so the change of scenery was a bit strange. Surely enough, Pettitte found his way back to New York a few years later.

7. Joe Klecko

Kleco was an Indianapolis Colt in 1988. The Jets had released him at the end of the 1987 campaign, but he only looked right wearing green.

6. Brian Leetch

Leetch in Toronto and Boston was weird. Seeing him wear No. 22 was even weirder.

5. Mike Piazza

Piazza was the New York Mets. The Padres and A's? Not so much.

4. Bryan Trottier

A cornerstone of the Islanders' dynasty of the 1980s, he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins and won two more Cups. That still didn't make him look right.

3. Patrick Ewing

The Knicks' legend wound up in Seattle and Orlando before retiring in 2002.

2. Martin Brodeur

The Devils finally decided to part ways with the legendary goaltender, and after waiting for his shot, Brodeur will now get one in St. Louis.

1. Joe Namath

I think everyone would prefer to pretend Namath as an L.A. Ram was never a thing.

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