Oct
4
Lou Gehrig, the luckiest man alive, played in 2,130 consecutive games as a New York Yankee from 1925 to 1939.
Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. would break that 56-year-old streak in 1995 and play in an amazing 2,632 straight games from May 30, 1982 to September 20, 1998, a record that will surely never be broken.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre has started an NFL-record 241 regular season games for the quarterback position.
While Gehrig, Ripken and Favre are synonymous with the terms “longevity” and “toughness” in sports, people should not forget former power forward A.C. Green, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat during his 16-year NBA career and turned 44 years old today.
From November 19, 1986 to April 18, 2001, Green played in an ABA and NBA record of 1192 straight games. The streak would not be snapped by an injury or a “DNP”; rather, Green would not get signed by a team entering the 2001-2002 season and would thus retire.
by Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
Lou Gehrig, the luckiest man alive, played in 2,130 consecutive games as a New York Yankee from 1925 to 1939.