While some athletes retire too soon, others refuse to call it quits, even when everyone
and everything is telling them to throw in the towel. Whether it was due to their unkillable
competitive natures or a desire to finally win a championship, these famous athletes
retired too late.
As Deion Sanders once said,
"They don't pay nobody to be humble. Some people will come out to see me do well. Some
people will come out to see me get run over. But love me or hate me, they're going to come
out."
The fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, Sanders quickly earned his nickname "Prime
Time" for being a lockdown defender and an electrifying kick returner. During his 11
seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys, he won two Super
Bowl rings, was selected to eight Pro Bowls, and was named NFL Defensive Player of the
Year in 1994. He was simply one of the greatest to ever play the game.
In 2000, Sanders cashed in when the Washington Redskins signed him to a 7-year, $56 million
dollar contract. He abruptly retired one year later after a subpar season and stayed retired
for three years before signing a one-year, $1.5 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens
at the age of 37. After his first practice, he told reporters,
"I prepare to win, I prepare to dominate, I prepare to conquer. I prepare to win it
all, and that's one of the reasons I'm here."
But by 2006, Sanders officially retired for good after only starting six games during
his time with the Ravens and missing the playoffs two years in a row.
"I played for five teams. It's not like I wanted to leave one, but I had to."
When Chris Chelios ended his 26-year NHL career in 2010, he retired as a three-time Stanley
Cup champion and a three-time winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the
league's best defenseman. He was also the only player in league history who logged more
than 400 games with three separate teams. The vast majority of his success came with
the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings, but in 2009, the Red
Wings decided not to re-sign him. He then bounced around in the minor leagues and with
the now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers, not exactly a fitting end to an illustrious career. Chelios
was 48 when he officially retired. He took things in stride as he stated at the time,
"I've been fortunate enough to be a part of this game at the highest level for a long
time. I've met a lot of great people and developed some special relationships along the way.
The three championship teams I've been lucky enough to be a part of have truly been the
highlights of my career."
"I'm very thankful that we did win the Cup, and, you know, I have been accepted as part
of the community, and I feel really good about that that I've made myself a home here."
Patrick Ewing's NBA career has two distinct eras: when he was with the New York Knicks,
and and when he wasn't with the Knicks. The 1985 number one draft pick, the 7-foot Hall
of Famer manned the center position for the Knicks for 15 years. During his illustrious
career, he was named Rookie of the Year, got selected to 11 All-Star games, and won an
Olympic gold medal as a member of "The Dream Team."
As age and injuries were catching up to him, Ewing was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics
in 2000 after playing more games in a Knicks uniform than any other player in history.
He was clearly past his prime at that point. After just one season with the Sonics, he
was shipped off at the age of 39 to the Orlando Magic, where he started only four games and
averaged a paltry 6 points a game. By 2002, a 40-year-old Ewing called it a career and
officially retired. At a press conference, he declared,
"I gave it 110 percent. I thought I had a great career. I have no regrets. I wouldn't
trade it for anything. I enjoyed every minute."
Entering the NBA as the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic,
Shaquille O'Neal was a force of nature. At 7 foot, 1 inch and 325 pounds, he was virtually
unstoppable as he breezed his way to Rookie of the Year honors. Four years later, he joined
the Los Angeles Lakers, where he teamed up with superstar Kobe Bryant to win three straight
NBA Championships. In 2004, he was traded to the Miami Heat and continued to succeed,
helping the franchise win its first NBA Championship in 2006.
Then the injuries started. Following the 2006 championship season, O'Neal missed 35 games
due to a knee injury. From 2008 to 2011, he put in lackluster seasons with a few different
teams. During his final season, the once-dominant big man played only 37 out of 82 games and
averaged a pedestrian 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds. On June 1, 2011, at the age of 39, he announced
his retirement on social media. During an appearance on SportsCenter, he admitted,
"Father Time has caught up with Shaquille O'Neal."
"Thank you, guys. I love you guys."
When it comes to wide receivers, Jerry Rice was simply the greatest of all time. He spent
16 years with the San Francisco 49ers and merely accomplished the following: three Super
Bowl trophies, a Super Bowl MVP, 13 trips to the Pro Bowl, and two Offensive Player
of the Year awards. And as of 2021, he's still the NFL's all-time leader in receptions, receiving
yards, and receiving touchdowns.
In the NFL, you normally get rewarded for all that success by your team releasing you
because you're getting paid too much. And indeed, that's what happened to Rice when
the Niners let him go in 2001. He then joined the Oakland Raiders and put up huge numbers
in his first two seasons in the Bay Area. But the next couple of years didn't go quite
so well. In 2005, the Raiders traded Rice to the Seattle Seahawks, where he had one
of the worst seasons of his career. After the Seahawks decided not to retain his services,
he signed a one-year deal with the Denver Broncos, but then he chose to retire at the
age of 42 after the season started when he learned that he was a backup. At a press conference,
he declared,
"This is a happy day. I think the tears that you see basically is that I have really enjoyed
this ride. I'm done. I'm looking forward to the next phase of my life."
German race car driver Michael Schumacher is one of the greatest champions in Formula
One history. From 1991 to 2006, he ran 248 races, won 91, and stood atop the podium as
Formula One champion a record seven times, including five straight from 2000 to 2004.
He then retired after that amazing run. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay retired for long. In 2010,
he joined the new Mercedes GP team with the idea of picking up where he left off. In an
interview with the BBC, he announced,
"After three years I have the energy back and I'm ready for some serious stuff. I'm
very motivated, thrilled, and excited."
But that excitement wore off fast. During his three seasons with Mercedes, he competed
in 58 races without a single win. He called it quits for good in 2012 at the age of 43,
as he announced,
"I still feel I am capable of competing against the best but the time sometimes comes to say
goodbye and this time it might be forever."
After a single season in 1991 with the Atlanta Falcons, where he didn't complete a single
pass, a young Brett Favre [FARV] was traded to the Green Bay Packers. During his 15 years
with the team, he won the Offensive Player of the Year Award, three MVP Awards, and a
Super Bowl. He went on to be named to the NFL's 100th Anniversary All-Time Team and
was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. When his time with the Packers
ended in 2007, he could've easily walked away from the game. But insead, he stayed in the
league three more years. He spent a year with the New York Jets before moving on to the
Minnesota Vikings for a couple of seasons and then officially announcing his retirement.
During a 2013 radio interview with WSPZ, Favre revealed that he had severe memory loss from
suffering countless concussions throughout his career. He then called out the NFL for
their part in player safety as he said,
"I don't see how you can't change with the times and try to protect the players more
because of the studies that have come out to what concussions can do. The players, either
retired or some of the few players who are either killing themselves or self-destructing,
studies have proven some of this is because of concussions."
If you're a sports fan, there's probably no need to discuss Michael Jordan's time with
the Chicago Bulls. He took the NBA on his back into the modern era, and he's basically
the sole reason that Nike is such a big deal. His 90s Bulls squads won three NBA championships
in a row, twice. He retired in 1999 as a living legend. The following year, he became part-owner
and President of Basketball Operations for the Washington Wizards, but his desire to
play was still too strong. In 2002, he came out of retirement at the age of 39 to play
for the Wizards.
While he had his moments in the nation's capital, the team never made the playoffs during his
two seasons back on the court, as he averaged a career-low 20 points per game during his
final year. He then retired for the last time in 2003. While Jordan may have been done playing,
he hasn't exactly quit the game entirely. Since 2010, he's been the majority owner of
the frequently struggling Charlotte Hornets, who were previously known as the Bobcats.
"I think he can still play the game, man, if he want to, but you know, just, 50 years
old, man, going out after 25 years on it."
Karl Malone spent 18 years with the Utah Jazz and in the process became a legend. The accolades
speak for themselves: two-time MVP, 14 All-Star appearances, two All-Star MVPs, and two Olympic
gold medals. In the 90s, he and John Stockton gave Michael Jordan's Bulls all that they
could handle as they faced off against them in the NBA Finals two years in a row. In 2003,
Malone signed a one-year deal to join Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and the rest of
the Los Angeles Lakers in an attempt to add the only thing missing from his resume. As
his agent told The New York Times,
"That was his desire, to win a ring. In a perfect world, he would have won the ring
in Utah and retired in Utah. That wasn't an option."
Alas, that championship never came. After one season with the Lakers, Malone chose not
to return after Bryant accused him of making inappropriate comments to his wife Vanessa.
He officially retired in 2005 after 19 seasons in the NBA. He was inducted into the Basketball
Hall of Fame in 2010 and his number 32 jersey was retired by the Jazz in 2006.
Muhammad Ali is widely considered the greatest boxer of all time, as well as one of the most
significant figures in American history thanks to his activism and showmanship.
"I done wrestled with an alligator! That's right. I have wrestled with an alligator!"
In the ring, he was unmatched. At the age of 22, he shook up the boxing world by defeating
Sonny Liston for his first world heavyweight championship. Fifteen years later, he retired
as a three-time champion and a living legend at the age of 37. But then he returned to
the ring the following year and suffered defeats at the hands of Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick.
He ultimately retired for good in 1981. As Holmes noted before their fight,
"He just got slower and older, and it takes a little longer for him to get around now.
I noticed that. He don't think as quick anymore."
According to author Jonathan Eig, who wrote the 2017 biography Ali: A Life, the iconic
fighter reportedly took about 200,000 punches over the course of his career. In 1984, he
was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. As Eig noted to ESPN,
"Ali did damage to himself and he knew it and kept boxing too long."
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