Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Top ten athletes who have come back from retirement

10. Junior Seau


Retired: August 14, 2006 with the Chargers on a one-day contract
Came back: August 18, 2006 with the Patriots
How he fared: Started and served as a captain on the arguably the best Super Bowl runner-up of all-time.

9. Randy Couture


Retired: February 4, 2006
Came back: January 11, 2007
How he fared: In his last bout, Couture was KO'd by Brock Lesnar in one of the biggest fights in UFC history.

8. Ricky Williams


Retired: May 14, 2004
Came back: July 24, 2005
How he fared: Even at age 31, when most running backs can barely walk down a flight of stairs, Williams remains relatively productive. He scored four touchdowns last season for the Dolphins.

7. Ryne Sandburg


Retired: 1994
Came back: 1996
How he fared: At age 36, Ryno returned to club 25 dingers for the Cubbies in 1996.

6. Lance Armstrong


Retired: July 24, 2005
Came back: January 2009
How he fared: This summer, we shall see.

5. Magic Johnson


Retired: November 7, 1991
Came back: 1996
How he fared: Johnson averaged 14.6 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game in the last 32 games of the '96 season.

4. Brett Favre


Retired: March 4, 2008
Came back: July 29, 2008
How he fared: Single-handidly choked away a division title for the Jets.

3. Roger Clemens


Retired: Following the 2003 season
Came back: January 12, 2004
How he fared: Still was one of the league's best starters, but steroid allegations have soiled his legacy.

2. Mario Lemieux


Retired: A few times
Came back: A few times
How he fared: Super Mario was at the absolute apex of his powers when Hodgkin's Lymphoma struck him down in 1993. In 2003, at age 37, scored 92 points in 67 games.

1. Michael Jordan


Retired: October 6, 1993
Came back: March 18, 1995
How he fared: Won three consecutive titles, retired, came back, won three more consecutive titles. Some believe Jordan actually made a second comeback from retirement 2001, but those people are crazy because that never actually happened. The picture above is clearly PhotoShopped.

3 comments:

GM-Carson said...

Excellent list. Here's to hoping some MLB team gives Oil Can Boyd a shot.

Anonymous said...

I liked every part of the list until we got to Brett Favre. Oh how he lost the Division for us Jets fans.

Anonymous said...

Ricky, now that Couture is retired he has time to make movies, like the Mummy 2 (http://blog.filmjabber.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/scorpion-king-2.jpg) it is cinematic history.