So, that begs the question: What is the most teams that a member of the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame has played for.
The easy answer is: Six.
Three member of the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame have played for six different teams in their career. The back story on these three players is that they all played the majority of their careers in the NFL’s startup days (1920’s) when teams would go out of business, change names or cities frequently, and just overall not have the stability of the modern NFL, making it more likely that a player would play for multiple teams. Those players are:
Jim Thorpe - 1915-1928
Canton Bulldogs
Cleveland Indians (NFL)
Oorang Indians
Rock Island Independents
New York Giants
Chicago Cardinals
Joe Grunyon – 1919-1927
Canton Bulldogs
Clevenland Indians (NFL)
Oorang Indians
Rock Island Independents
Kansas City Cowboys
New York Giants
Fritz Pollard – 1919-1928
Akron Pros/Indians
Milwaukee Badgers
Hammond Pros
Gilberton Cadamounts
Providence Steam Roller
Chicago Black Hawks
If we look at the more modern era of professional football, the most teams any Hall-of-Fame member has played for is five, and three different players have accomplished this feat.
Warren Moon 1983-2000
While Moon is in the Hall-of-Fame and has played for five different teams, some may count it differently as only four of the teams were in the NFL.
Edmonton Eskimos (CFL)
Houston Oilers
Minnesota Vikings
Seattle Seahawks
Kansas City Chiefs
Tommy MacDonald 1957-1968
Philadelphia Eagles
Dallas Cowboys
Los Angeles Rams
Atlanta Falcons
Cleveland Browns
James Lofton 1978-1993
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Raiders
Buffalo Bills
Los Angeles Rams
Philadelphia Eagles
Most often, when we think of Hall-of-Fame players we think of players like Barry Sanders, Terry Bradshaw, Bart Starr, or John Elway who played their entire career with one team. Sometimes we think of players like Joe Montana, O.J. Simpson, Tony Dorsett, or Emmitt Smith who played the majority of their career with one team and then finished it with another. Not too often do we remember the players who played for four or five different teams as Hall-of-Famers.