“There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’”

“There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’” is a sports saying to encourage teamwork. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Vern Law listed “There is no ‘I’ in team” as one of his “rules for success” in 1960. The saying has been applied to many other players and teams.
 
The variation “There is no ‘I’ in team, but there is in win” has been cited in print since at least 1992, and “There’s no ‘I’ in team, but there is a ‘me’” has been cited in print since at least 1993. “There’s no ‘I’ in team, but there are two in schizophrenia” has been cited in print since at least 2010. “There’s no ‘I’ in denial” is a joke that was popularized in 2014.
   
       
Wikipedia: Vern Law
Vernon Sanders Law (born March 12, 1930 in Meridian, Idaho) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played for 16 seasons (1950-1951 and 1954-1967) for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 
Law was a member of the National League All Star Team in 1960. He won the Cy Young Award, and led the National League in complete games that year.
 
His son Vance Law also played in the Major Leagues, primarily as a utility infielder.
 
Law currently lives in Provo, Utah. He is the pitching coach for Provo High School (PHS) varsity baseball team (PHS is located across the street from BYU where his son is the head coach), and is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). During his playing career, Law was tagged with the nickname “Deacon” by Pirate broadcaster Bob Prince because he is a member of the ordained priesthood of the LDS Church.
 
Vern Law has been credited with saying, “A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.” and “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.”
 
14 August 1960, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “How to be a winner,” pg. TW2:
Star pitcher Vernon Law’s rules for success are as meaningful off the field as on.
(...)
You’ll never become a .300 hitter unless you take your bat off your shoulder.
 
When you start to slide—slide. He who changes his mind may exchange a good leg for a broken one.
 
A winner never quits and a quitter never wins.
 
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.
 
Nobody ever became a ballplayer by walking after the ball.
 
If you don’t play to win, why keep score?
 
There is no “I” in team.
 
Some people are so busy learning the tricks of the trade that they never learn the trade.

Don’t throw the ball before you have it.

When you’re through learning, you’re through.
   
Sports Illustrated
January 29, 1962
Everybody Points For The Champ
Cincinnati’s abrasive defense won two big games last week, but the Bearcats must still make the NCAA tournament
Ray Cave
(...)
It took considerable gall to turn Cincinnati into a defensive team, for this was the tactical equivalent of making a team of bunters out of the Yankees. “I knew I was asking for it from the players and the fans,” says Jucker. “If it didn’t work I was dead.” He tacked up inspirational signs in the locker room (“There is no I in TEAM”) and devoted more than 80% of every practice to defense—a procedure he still follows.
   
Google Books
Organizational keys and checklists for successful football coaching
By Jack Olcott
West Nyack, NY: Parker Pub. Co.
1968
Pg. 145:
Quarterbacks must be the first individuals to learn there is no “I” in Team!
 
Urban Dictionary
there’s no i in team
A stupid phrase to tell ball hogs to give you the damn ball.
There aint no I in team.
Well there aint no WE either
by DyingAlive May 19, 2004
 
there’s no i in team 
A cliche that needs to die.
Well, yeah, but there’s no u either, so shut up!
by Doc Sigma May 19, 2004
 
there’s no i in team 
A Phrase That Was Started To Attempt To Remove The Phrase “There IS A Me In Team”
Player 1: Hey Man You Gotta Pass The Ball “Theres No I In Team”
Player2: Yes But There Is A Me In Team So BACK OFF Its Not My Fault You SUCK!
by Otacon May 18, 2004