Taking less money to win

I'm looking for some examples of athletes who signed for lower-than-market value because they thought they had more of a chance of winning with X team rather than Y or Z.

I seem to recall Steve Yzerman did so in order to clear money for the Red Wings to sign Brett Hull, and they won a Cup that year.

I'll be doing more research on this later, but I thought I'd throw it out and see if anyone could think of some good examples.

Thanks.

 

Malone and Payton going to the Lakers... I have never rooted against a team more in my life.

 

Deion to the Niners.

Andre Rison to the Packers.

 

Marty Brodeur--also because he wanted to stay with the Devils. Or maybe that's the home town discount. The PA was not amused at the time if I recall

 

Ray Bourque for his entire career....the PA hated him for it. But like Brodeur, I guess that's more of a hometown discount.

 

Marian Hossa, who left Pittsburgh for a better chance to win the Stanley Cup with Detroit, only to lose to the Pens in the finals.

 

Alexander Yashin...oh, wait, no.

 

lots of talk out of vancouver last summer when Ryan Kesler was quoted as saying his teammates should consider taking less to become a winner. Just google Ryan Kesler home town discount.

 

Pat Tillman (before he left for the war) took a lot less money to stay in Arizona rather than going to St. Louis, though that was obviously more about staying close to home than it was about winning.

 

Probably more of a home-town discount deal situation, but Tedy Bruschi took less than market to stay in New England. For a large part of his career, he also served as his own agent, so he didn't have to pay agent fees.

 

Brady I believe, but he was already there.

 

Every player's contract affects other players' contracts, so most professional athletes consider it bad form to discount services. It's also another problem that athletes in salary cap sports face more than players in baseball.

Here's Jon Papelbon, talking about arbitration and free agency:

"At the same time, I'm not afraid to show that, hey, I want to be with the Red Sox [in a multiyear deal]. I'd love to have that sense of security of being with a team and knowing, 'Hey, they want me, and I want them, let's have a happy marriage.'

"But what do I have to give up to be in that marriage? Understand, I'm in the prime of my career. Why would I give up something? I'd give up something if it's fair to both sides, but I want to do things for my fellow closers, just like Mo paved the way for me. I want every closer out there, man, to get every penny they deserve.''

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/columns/story?columnist=edes_gordon&id=4803511