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*Terrell Davis, only a sixth-round [[NFL]] draft pick, carried the Denver Broncos to two [[Super Bowl]] championships and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2017.<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/08/05/nbcs-sunday-night-football-honored-by-hall-of-fame/104322286/</ref>
*Terrell Davis, only a sixth-round [[NFL]] draft pick, carried the Denver Broncos to two [[Super Bowl]] championships and was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2017.<ref>https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/08/05/nbcs-sunday-night-football-honored-by-hall-of-fame/104322286/</ref>
*Jim Plunkett, a Mexican American raised by blind parents who had met at a school for the blind, won two stunning [[Super Bowl]] victories in addition to the [[Heisman Trophy]], despite how his college coach had tried to talk him out of being a quarterback.<ref>http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Plunkett.html</ref>
*Jim Plunkett, a Mexican American raised by blind parents who had met at a school for the blind, won two stunning [[Super Bowl]] victories in addition to the [[Heisman Trophy]], despite how his college coach had tried to talk him out of being a quarterback.<ref>http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Plunkett.html</ref>
*Kurt Warner, one of the greatest football quarterbacks by multiple yardsticks<ref>Warner is only of only three quarterbacks who led two ''different'' teams to the Super Bowl, participating in three Super Bowls and winning one.</ref>, was not drafted by any team out of college, was originally cut by the Green Bay Packers, was denied a tryout by the Chicago Bears, ended up working as a grocery store stocker, and was ultimately given a chance only due to another player's injury.
*Kurt Warner, one of the greatest football quarterbacks by multiple yardsticks<ref>Warner is only of only three quarterbacks who led two ''different'' teams to the Super Bowl, participating in three Super Bowls and winning one.</ref>, was not drafted by any team out of college, was originally cut by the Green Bay Packers, was denied a tryout by the Chicago Bears, ended up working as a grocery store stocker, and was ultimately given a chance only due to another player's injury.
*[[Tim Tebow]], a devout Christian dismissed by the media, led the Denver Broncos to the playoffs his first season as a starter, and was inexplicably traded to the New York Jets, who preferred to play "expert" quarterback Mark Sanchez, costing them the season and finishing a pathetic 6–10. Tebow was again rejected by the [[New England Patriots]] in favor of "expert" quarterback Tom Brady. The team performed poorly in the first quarter of the 2013 season, with Brady playing at a mediocre level of play.
*[[Tim Tebow]], a devout Christian dismissed by the media, led the Denver Broncos to the playoffs his first season as a starter, and was inexplicably traded to the New York Jets, who preferred to play "expert" quarterback Mark Sanchez, costing them the season and finishing a pathetic 6–10. Tebow was again rejected by the [[New England Patriots]] in favor of "expert" quarterback Tom Brady. The team performed poorly in the first quarter of the 2013 season, with Brady playing at a mediocre level of play.
*Brock Purdy dubbed "Mr. Irrelevant"<ref>The title is given to the last player picked in the NFL Draft. The player is given the "Lowsman Trophy" (a spoof of the Heisman Trophy) which features a player dropping a football.</ref>, as the last selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, stepped in as the third-string quarterback for the [[San Francisco 49ers]] (the starter was injured for the season in the first game, and the backup -- the former starter -- also went down with a season-ending injury later on) and won 7 straight games to place them into the NFC Championship game in Jan. 2023.
*Brock Purdy dubbed "Mr. Irrelevant"<ref>The title is given to the last player picked in the NFL Draft. The player is given the "Lowsman Trophy" (a spoof of the Heisman Trophy) which features a player dropping a football.</ref>, as the last selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, stepped in as the third-string quarterback for the [[San Francisco 49ers]] (the starter was injured for the season in the first game, and the backup -- the former starter -- also went down with a season-ending injury later on) and won 7 straight games to place them into the NFC Championship game in Jan. 2023.
=====Basketball=====
*[[Villanova University]] won two [[NCAA]] men's basketball titles in three years (2016 and 2018) despite having a relatively obscure athletic program. It also won the national title in 1985 despite being a #8 seed, the lowest seed to ever win the title, and defeated defending national champion (and conference foe) Georgetown in the championship game.
*The Dallas Mavericks, having few stars, swept the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers and then crushed the star-studded Miami Heat to win the 2011 [[NBA]] title.
*Similarly, the Toronto Raptors stunned the overwhelmingly-favored Golden State Warriors to win the 2019 NBA championship despite not having any lottery picks on their roster.
*Giannis Antetokounmpo, the "Greek Freak" born to [[Nigeria]]n parents, was drafted by the NBA only 15th, far below the lottery choices, and was unremarkable but gradually improved each season in the NBA until he won its coveted MVP award in 2019. His motto is a quote from the [[Bible]]: "walk by [[faith]], not by sight."<ref>http://evangelicalfocus.com/lifetech/4555/NBA_MVP_Antetokounmpo_walks_by_faith_</ref>
*[[Jeremy Lin]], denied college basketball scholarships, left undrafted by the [[NBA]] and cut by a weak NBA team, joined the 8-15 Knicks and then took them on a seven-game winning streak, including wiping the floor with [[liberal]]-promoted [[Kobe Bryant]] of the favored Lakers
*Stephen Curry, one of the smallest players in the [[NBA]], was drafted only 7th in his year and yet has become perhaps the finest basketball shooter ever.
*In an even more extreme example of the above, Sarunas Marciulionis, drafted 127th in the 1987 [[NBA]] draft, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, and during his career, pioneered the use of the Euro step, which was almost unknown in his day, but is now a very common basketball move.
=====Baseball=====
*[[Albert Pujols]] was a community college baseball player with only one year of experience at that level, was panned by a [[scouting report]] and as a result, was not drafted until the 402nd selection in 1999, and yet after only one season in the minors was on the St. Louis Cardinals major league roster the following year. Pujols became one of the greatest hitters of the 21st century and led the Cardinals to two World Series championships. (It is commonly, though wrongly, reported that Pujols' chance came only because of an injury to Bobby Bonilla; Tony La Russa (the Cardinals' manager) stated that this was not the case; he had impressed the staff and several players and was going to be promoted before the injury.<ref>''One Last Strike''. LaRussa, Tony, with [[Rick Hummel]]. 2012, Harper Collins Publishers, {{ISBN|978-0-06-220738-8}}, p. 41-42</ref>)
*[[Don Larsen]], then a little-known pitcher, threw the only perfect game in [[World Series]] history (Game 5, 1956).
*In baseball, most of the stars were not considered to be strong prospects for success, as only two number-one draft picks ever made it to the Hall of Fame: Ken Griffey, Jr., and Chipper Jones.<ref>http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2018/01/24/chipper-jones-hall-of-fame-by-the-numbers-atlanta-braves/</ref> On the opposite extreme is Mike Piazza, a 62nd round selection (and drafted solely because his father was a good friend of Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda) who went on to a successful career, finally being selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.
=====Tennis=====
*Marion Bartoli, a relatively obscure tennis player with a low seed at [[Wimbledon]], won the women's single title in 2013 without losing a single set the entire tournament, a feat achieved by only five other players in modern history.
*Marion Bartoli, a relatively obscure tennis player with a low seed at [[Wimbledon]], won the women's single title in 2013 without losing a single set the entire tournament, a feat achieved by only five other players in modern history.
*15-year-old Cori Gauff became the youngest to qualify for [[Wimbledon]] through the public qualifying rounds, and then defeated 5-time champion Venus Williams in straight sets, in 2019.
*15-year-old Cori Gauff became the youngest to qualify for [[Wimbledon]] through the public qualifying rounds, and then defeated 5-time champion Venus Williams in straight sets, in 2019.
*Simona Halep had never won [[Wimbledon]], but played near-perfect tennis to crush in only 56 minutes the overpowering, 7-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, in 2019.
*Simona Halep had never won [[Wimbledon]], but played near-perfect tennis to crush in only 56 minutes the overpowering, 7-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, in 2019.
*Sloane Stephens, an African American ranked No. 934 in the world in women's tennis the month before, easily won the U.S. Open in 2017, while no player in the finals of the 2015 U.S. Open in women's tennis was ranked in the top 20.
*Arthur Ashe, son of a policeman, at the relatively old age of 31 crushed the nearly invincible 22-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1975 to become the only African American men's Wimbledon singles champion;<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/5/newsid_2798000/2798971.stm</ref> Ashe won this upset with an ingenious strategy of using offspeed volleys unfamiliar to the hard-hitting Connors.
=====Track and Field=====
*An unsuccessful Olympian, the medical student Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier for the mile, which some experts considered impossible; now the record is 3:43.
*An unsuccessful Olympian, the medical student Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier for the mile, which some experts considered impossible; now the record is 3:43.
*[[Don Larsen]], then a little-known pitcher, threw the only perfect game in [[World Series]] history (Game 5, 1956).
*Dick Fosbury invented the Fosbury Flop despite criticism by all the experts. He won the 1968 Gold Medal with it, and now nearly everyone imitates his style.
*Bob Beamon, an obscure 22-year-old long jumper who barely qualified for the 1968 Olympic finals after fouling out on most attempts, then broke the world record by nearly two feet. In the preceding 30 years, the world record for the long jump had increased by only about 8 inches.<ref>http://www.infoplease.com/spot/summer-olympics-bob-beamon.html</ref>
*The Dallas Mavericks, having few stars, swept the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers and then crushed the star-studded Miami Heat to win the 2011 [[NBA]] title.
=====Other Sports=====
*[[Muhammad Ali]] was not expected to win the heavyweight boxing championship, and even after he won some experts doubted his ability, yet he was arguably the greatest ever.
*a very longshot underdog colt, ridden by a [[Kentucky Derby]] rookie, won the fabled race in an enormous upset in 2012.
*a very longshot underdog colt, ridden by a [[Kentucky Derby]] rookie, won the fabled race in an enormous upset in 2012.
*[[Atletico Madrid]], a Spanish soccer team whose roster had far fewer stars and cost much less than the expensively-assembled [[Real Madrid]], which contained the two most expensive players in the world, and the star-laden and [[liberal]]-promoted [[FC Barcelona]], won the 2013-14 La Liga championship over both clubs. Furthermore, their star striker, Diego Costa, had only scored 52 league goals over seven prior career years and had bounced around seven different teams before the 2013–14 season, but in that season alone, he scored 27 league goals, easily surpassing his previous career-best and leading Atletico to the title.
*[[Atletico Madrid]], a Spanish soccer team whose roster had far fewer stars and cost much less than the expensively-assembled [[Real Madrid]], which contained the two most expensive players in the world, and the star-laden and [[liberal]]-promoted [[FC Barcelona]], won the 2013-14 La Liga championship over both clubs. Furthermore, their star striker, Diego Costa, had only scored 52 league goals over seven prior career years and had bounced around seven different teams before the 2013–14 season, but in that season alone, he scored 27 league goals, easily surpassing his previous career-best and leading Atletico to the title.
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