There's been a lot of talk about the 'R' word this week. Retirement. There's a certain NFL quarterback who was playing with the idea of coming out of retirement.. again. A lot of people - including me - have weighed in. There has been a lot of talk as to whether or not Brett Favre should have returned this. There had been some who went as far as to say they'd turn back on Favre if he joined one of Green Bay's biggest rivals. It's been Favre this and Favre that all week long.
Rather than talk about Brett again, what I'd like to do today is focus on athletes who left their sport too soon. Men (and women) who retired before they either hung around too lung or were forced out.
Here's my list of ten athletes who shocked us be seemingly retiring before they were done. This list is in no particular order.
* Barry Sanders: In case you forgot, this summer will mark ten years since the former Lions great announced his retirement at the age of thirty. There was no teary eyed news conference. Just a fax to Sanders' hometown newspaper. Sanders was on pace to break the record for most rushing yards all time but left in part due to what he saw as the incompetent way his team was being run.
Rumors that Sanders would come out of retirement lingered for years, but he never did come back.
* Jim Brown: The great running back of the Cleveland Browns left the NFL in the summer of 1966 to pursue a career as an actor (and activist). I never saw him play (I was born in 1971), but everyone I know that did said he could have played for about five more years.
*Bjorn Borg: I'm going to admit something here. I used to watch tennis religiously. I covered the U.S. Open in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 (one of my favorite events to cover). I grew up in the middle of the Jimmy Connors-John McEnroe-Bjorn Borg Era. Borg was seemingly unbeatable until the early eighties. Two years after winning his last major (the 1981 French Open), Borg retired - at the age of twenty-six. His retirement stunned the tennis world. No one could believe Borg would walk away when he wasn't so far removed from being at the top of his game.
Borg eventually attempted a comeback in the early 1990's, but he could never recapture what he had in the late 70's and early 80's.
If you want to know when the popularity of tennis (specifically men's tennis) really began, it was when Borg and McEnroe retired. they not only had game. they had personality. Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Jim Courier, and Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi (who was more style than personality) could never match up.
* Phil Simms: The CBS analyst had a good (if not great) career that started in 1979 and ended after the 1993 season. Simms struggled to make it in his early career, and didn't really break through until 1984. Once he did break through, he became one of the most beloved players in New York Giants history.
Simms led the Giants to an 11-5 record and a playoff appearance in the '93 season. he had shoulder surgery after the season ended, and was told he would be back at full strength. The Giants thought he was done, though - and released him (a move that didn't sit well with Giants fans). Most observers felt Simms could have continued on for a few more years, but he decided to retire rather than play anywhere else.
* Justine Henin: She wasn't Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, or Monica Seles, but she dominated women's tennis for a few years. She didn't have the personality of either Williams sister. She didn't seem to have many interests outside of tennis (unlike Martina Hingis). She didn't necessarily have the fans on her side the way Jennifer Capriati did when she came back from personal problems. All she did was play tennis. All she did was win.
Then, a year ago, at the age of 25 and ranked #1 in the world at the time, she just got up and walked away.
* John Elway: I know he was 38 years old when he left (and the Broncos still haven't replaced him. But, I always got the feeling that he had a couple of more good years left in him. To Elway's credit, he left on top of the football world, having won back to back Super Bowls. But, he also left fans wanting more. To me, that screams of a guy leaving too soon.
* Rocky Marciano: The former heavyweight champ retired in 1956 (after defending his title against Archie Moore) with a 49-0 record. He is the one boxer that retired and stayed retired.
* Sandy Koufax: The legendary former Dodger retired in 1966 - after posting 27 wins! His retirement stunned the baseball world. Koufax, though, was suffering from arthritis, and was in pain every time he went out to pitch. He might have been able to continue, but no one knows if he would have been as effective as he'd been in the past
* Jackie Robinson: Yes, he was 37 when he left baseball. But the Giants thought he had more left in the tank and traded for him after the 1956 season. The trade was never completed, as Robinson walked away to work in the private sector. He died in 1972, just sixteen years later.
* Robert Smith: The former Vikings running back was in his prime when he walked away after the 2000 season. He said he was retiring to pursue a career in medicine. He has done a lot of television work since he left the league, and was regarded as a guy who walked to the beat of his own drummer.
There's my list. Feel free to comment, email me at saundersonsports@yahoo.com, or add to the list.
Rather than talk about Brett again, what I'd like to do today is focus on athletes who left their sport too soon. Men (and women) who retired before they either hung around too lung or were forced out.
Here's my list of ten athletes who shocked us be seemingly retiring before they were done. This list is in no particular order.
* Barry Sanders: In case you forgot, this summer will mark ten years since the former Lions great announced his retirement at the age of thirty. There was no teary eyed news conference. Just a fax to Sanders' hometown newspaper. Sanders was on pace to break the record for most rushing yards all time but left in part due to what he saw as the incompetent way his team was being run.
Rumors that Sanders would come out of retirement lingered for years, but he never did come back.
* Jim Brown: The great running back of the Cleveland Browns left the NFL in the summer of 1966 to pursue a career as an actor (and activist). I never saw him play (I was born in 1971), but everyone I know that did said he could have played for about five more years.
*Bjorn Borg: I'm going to admit something here. I used to watch tennis religiously. I covered the U.S. Open in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 (one of my favorite events to cover). I grew up in the middle of the Jimmy Connors-John McEnroe-Bjorn Borg Era. Borg was seemingly unbeatable until the early eighties. Two years after winning his last major (the 1981 French Open), Borg retired - at the age of twenty-six. His retirement stunned the tennis world. No one could believe Borg would walk away when he wasn't so far removed from being at the top of his game.
Borg eventually attempted a comeback in the early 1990's, but he could never recapture what he had in the late 70's and early 80's.
If you want to know when the popularity of tennis (specifically men's tennis) really began, it was when Borg and McEnroe retired. they not only had game. they had personality. Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Jim Courier, and Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi (who was more style than personality) could never match up.
* Phil Simms: The CBS analyst had a good (if not great) career that started in 1979 and ended after the 1993 season. Simms struggled to make it in his early career, and didn't really break through until 1984. Once he did break through, he became one of the most beloved players in New York Giants history.
Simms led the Giants to an 11-5 record and a playoff appearance in the '93 season. he had shoulder surgery after the season ended, and was told he would be back at full strength. The Giants thought he was done, though - and released him (a move that didn't sit well with Giants fans). Most observers felt Simms could have continued on for a few more years, but he decided to retire rather than play anywhere else.
* Justine Henin: She wasn't Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, or Monica Seles, but she dominated women's tennis for a few years. She didn't have the personality of either Williams sister. She didn't seem to have many interests outside of tennis (unlike Martina Hingis). She didn't necessarily have the fans on her side the way Jennifer Capriati did when she came back from personal problems. All she did was play tennis. All she did was win.
Then, a year ago, at the age of 25 and ranked #1 in the world at the time, she just got up and walked away.
* John Elway: I know he was 38 years old when he left (and the Broncos still haven't replaced him. But, I always got the feeling that he had a couple of more good years left in him. To Elway's credit, he left on top of the football world, having won back to back Super Bowls. But, he also left fans wanting more. To me, that screams of a guy leaving too soon.
* Rocky Marciano: The former heavyweight champ retired in 1956 (after defending his title against Archie Moore) with a 49-0 record. He is the one boxer that retired and stayed retired.
* Sandy Koufax: The legendary former Dodger retired in 1966 - after posting 27 wins! His retirement stunned the baseball world. Koufax, though, was suffering from arthritis, and was in pain every time he went out to pitch. He might have been able to continue, but no one knows if he would have been as effective as he'd been in the past
* Jackie Robinson: Yes, he was 37 when he left baseball. But the Giants thought he had more left in the tank and traded for him after the 1956 season. The trade was never completed, as Robinson walked away to work in the private sector. He died in 1972, just sixteen years later.
* Robert Smith: The former Vikings running back was in his prime when he walked away after the 2000 season. He said he was retiring to pursue a career in medicine. He has done a lot of television work since he left the league, and was regarded as a guy who walked to the beat of his own drummer.
There's my list. Feel free to comment, email me at saundersonsports@yahoo.com, or add to the list.
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