In
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
, a journeyman or journeywoman is an athlete who is technically competent but unable to excel.
The term is used elsewhere (such as in
American,
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
and
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
contexts) to refer to a professional sportsman who plays for numerous clubs during his career. In Britain, the term is also used derogatorily, along with ''mercenary'', to refer to players who join various affluent clubs purely in search of higher contractual payouts rather than to further their career; usually clubs which they would likely never join otherwise.
American English
Journeymen often make up a significant part of the roster of even the richest clubs because of the difficulty of guaranteeing all of their star players sufficient playing time and restrictions on a team's payroll (salary cap or financial penalties for overspending). This is especially true in the context of
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
, where journeymen often make up large parts of a team's pitching staff primarily in middle relief (sixth through eighth inning) or specialist roles, such as a
left or right handed specialist with two out in an inning, and contribute crucially to a team's success. Many journeymen can be highly experienced, and they often play a "utility" role to cover for injuries or tactical changes as required. Some such players can be signed and cut by multiple teams in a single season, such as NFL quarterback
Josh Johnson in .
Journeymen players are usually distinguished from an elite or "star" player. Quirk and Fort note that the concerns of journeymen players and superstars, with respect to contract and other negotiations, differ: Superstars are concerned with the preservation of their rights to be free agents, whilst journeymen players are concerned with issues such as league minimum salaries and player pensions. Fort observes that this leads to conflicts between journeymen and superstars, such as (Fort's example) the 1995 attempt by a group of superstar players to derail the agreement between the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
and its players' association. Holt and Mason note that in
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
,
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
,
flat racing
Horse racing is an equestrianism, equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all spor ...
,
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sport played on a rectangular Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, billiards table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets: one at each corner and ...
,
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
, and other sports there is a clear distinction in earnings between the few rich stars in each sport and the journeyman professionals. They state that snooker has "an élite of perhaps twenty players" and point to a distinction between high earning
test cricket
Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...
ers with six figure wages and "the average
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
professional" (for whom they give
Simon Hughes
Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes (born 17 May 1951) is a British former politician. He is now the Chancellor of London South Bank University, and a strategic adviser to Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer of trains. Hughes was deputy leader of the Lib ...
, who earned £50,000 in the whole of his twelve years in county cricket, as an example). Vamplew describes how league cricket in the 1890s provided little attraction for star cricketers but was greatly attractive to journeymen players in county cricket, eventually forcing the counties to raise their conventional maximum wage, offer winter pay to more players, and expand the fixture lists.
O'Leary notes as significant the fact that whilst star football players will be treated with lenience by clubs, for journeyman footballers the taking of recreational drugs usually terminates their careers. (He gives
Roger Stanislaus and
Craig Whitington as examples.) Clubs will regard it as worthwhile to wait for stars to become available for team selection after suspension or imprisonment, but not for journeymen.
American football

In
American football
American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...
, Marc Sessler on NFL.com described the definition of a journeyman quarterback as "hazy". He limited his discussion in the article to
quarterback
The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
s who had played for four or more teams in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
and occasionally others such as the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...
with "impactful, memory-spinning moments along the way", despite not being considered among the best quarterbacks in the league. Players described as such include
Doug Flutie
Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former professional Gridiron football, football quarterback who played for 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Footb ...
,
Vinny Testaverde
Vincent Frank Testaverde Sr. (; born November 13, 1963) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning con ...
,
Kyle Orton,
Steve DeBerg
Steven Leroy DeBerg (born January 19, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 years.
Early life
DeBerg is an alumnus of Savanna High School in Anaheim, Califor ...
,
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine teams, the ...
,
Josh McCown
Joshua Treadwell McCown (born July 4, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college foo ...
, and
Josh Johnson.
The term is descriptive rather than definitive;
Professional Football Researchers Association
The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional American football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by w ...
member Joe Zagorski defined
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
inductee
Fran Tarkenton
Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He is wi ...
as one despite only playing for two teams in his career, owing to him being traded between said organizations repeatedly.
Despite the occasionally
pejorative
A pejorative word, phrase, slur, or derogatory term is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hosti ...
connotation associated with the term, many backups are journeymen who sign short-term deals when the starter is injured. NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha described this role as "not an easy transition, but the job is vital to the success of many organizations. The quarterbacks who last in that role embrace the idea that they'll be facing situations that aren't optimal whenever they're pressed into service." Some journeyman quarterbacks such as Flutie and Testaverde have had spurts of postseason success, with others such as
Trent Dilfer
Trent Farris Dilfer (born March 13, 1972) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the UAB Blazers football team. Dilfer previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He achieved ...
,
Brad Johnson and
Nick Foles
Nicholas Edward Foles (born January 20, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. A member of six teams, he achieved his greatest success wi ...
winning the
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
. Foles was named to the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players.
The format has changed ...
in 2013 before being voted the
Super Bowl LII
Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. As a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX from 13 years earlier, the game was between the National Football Conferen ...
MVP
MVP most commonly refers to:
* Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition
* Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering
MVP may also refer to:
...
in 2018.
Since they are usually carrying a playbook, communicating with the starter, and observing patterns, being a journeyman is often a stepping stone to coaching careers. Quarterbacks who have been described as journeymen before becoming NFL coaches include McCown,
Mike Kafka, and
Sean Mannion.
Doug Pederson
Douglas Irvin Pederson (born January 31, 1968) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who was the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He spent most o ...
was a journeyman before winning Super Bowl LII as Foles' head coach.
Boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts
In
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
,
kickboxing
Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...
and
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world.
In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...
, a journeyman is a fighter who has adequate skill, but is not of the caliber of a contender or
gatekeeper
A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate or bouncer, or more abstractly, controls who is granted access to a category or status. Gatekeepers assess who is "in or out", in the classic words of manage ...
. Journeymen typically serve as opponents for young up-and-coming prospects and will often step in on short notice should a scheduled fighter get injured or be otherwise unavailable for a bout. While no match for contenders, they may still have a winning record against less-skilled fighters.
In testimony to the
, DeGuardia
states that becoming a journeyman is the fate of many professional
boxers, and that a boxer will realize that he has become a journeyman "after about 10 years" in the profession. Journeymen boxers float "from promoter to promoter, or manager to manager, hoping to get placed as opponents in fights" by promoters. They will "fight all the time, anywhere, in order to make enough money to get by." In earlier testimony to the committee, it had been reported that some journeymen boxers regard themselves as existing in the sport solely as "a body for better men to beat on."
Svinth reports that the activities of journeymen boxers changed over the course of the 20th century, with journeymen of the 1920s fighting a couple of times per week and spending little time in the gymnasium, but journeymen of the 1990s fighting a couple of times per year and sparring in the gymnasium three or four nights per week.
Quotes
British English
up played for 27 clubs on six continents.">Lutz Pfannenstiel played for 27 clubs on six continents.
In British English, a journeyman is a player who has represented many clubs over his career. Prime examples from
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
are: German goalkeeper
Lutz Pfannenstiel, who represented 27 clubs, and he is currently the only athlete to have played professionally in all six
FIFA Confederations
The following article gives a list of association football confederations, sub-confederations and associations around the world. The sport's international governing body is FIFA, but those associations not affiliated with FIFA are also included ...
;
Trevor Benjamin, who has represented 29 clubs since 1995;
Drewe Broughton, who has made 18 transfers in his career;
John Burridge, who played for 29 clubs in a career spanning almost 30 years;
Jefferson Louis who, since the 1990s, has represented 34 clubs and Dominica once; his
cousin
A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle.
More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...
Richard Pacquette who boasts 19 clubs and even international honours in 10 seasons; and
Sebastián Abreu, who in 2017 broke the world record for most clubs played by a professional; as of 2024, at the age of 47, has played for 32 clubs in his career.
The term is also used in Australian English and New Zealand English in the same context, with the added idiom of "recycling" for the tendency for the clubs in the relatively small structure of Australian football to continually rotate the same experienced, professional, but generally unspectacular players around the league to fill gaps in the club squads. An example of such "recycling" is found with
Antony Golec, who has played for 7 of the 12 current A-League clubs, never staying with one for more than 3 seasons in a row.
The term is also used derogatorily, along with ''mercenary'', to refer to players who join various affluent clubs purely in search of higher contractual payouts, clubs which they would likely never join otherwise.
In contrast, players who represent the same club throughout their entire careers are called
one-club men.
References
External links
List of international journeyman footballers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Journeyman (Sports)
Terminology used in multiple sports