Sound Off!
Look, I love the athletes I’m talking about below. But in light of the Brett Favre rumours, I’ve got to get something off my chest. There are a handful of athletes in history who should’ve left the game gracefully and on top. My gut feeling is, when you retire, you retire. You’re done, you’re licked, you’re burned out. But then there are those rare breed of athletes who won’t let the game go. Here they are, in no specific order, the top ten “unretired athletes”.
1. Michael Jordan - He was the best of his, or probably any era in the world of basketball. He had won all those championships with the Bulls in the early 90’s and established himself as the best in history. But then he retired for baseball. And then he came back and won three more titles. And then he retired again. And then he came back to play for the Washington Wizards. And then he retired a third time. Sounds like “His Airness” should’ve called it quits after 1998.
2. Mario Lemieux - Look, I can sympathize with the fact he was partial owner of a team who was floundering in debt, but there was no reason he had to come back to sell tickets. I mean seriously, how would you feel playing with the owner of the guy who pays your bills? This isn’t to say Mario didn’t conquer the league again, but Lemieux already had that tearful goodbye.
3. Roger Clemens - The Rocket should’ve called it quits and didn’t. He came back to prove that the ‘roids weren’t the reason he was so successful. Instead of seeing ‘The Rocket’, however, it looked like fans got to see ‘The Old Timer’.
4. Martina Navratilova - This tennis superstar started playing in 1975 and retired from singles competition in 1994, but came back in 2002. Despite enjoying very limited success, she became the oldest person at 47 years old to win a grand slam singles match in 2004. Thank God she called it quits for good in 2006.
5. George Foreman - Let me say this: At least he is sticking to selling grills. Here are the legendary boxer’s numbers: 1974, 1977 and 1998. The guy was a phenomenal boxer who went toe to toe with Ali and all, but come on … He’s made most of his wealth by selling the damn grills!
6. Bjorn Borg - This tennis superstar can best be described as the Roger Federer of the 1970s and 80s. He won it all back then — Grand Slam after Grand Slam. And then he retired in 1983. But Bjorn attempted a pro comeback tour 10 years later and didn’t even achieve a fraction of what he accomplished in his hayday.
7. Bob Cousy - If Bjorn had the worst comeback in history, Cousy would be a close second. A part of the Celtics dynasty of the 1980s, Cousy came out of retirement at the age of 41 and looked slower than molasses on the court.
8. Ricky Williams - Mr. Marijuana was forced to retire in 2004 after testing positive for marijuana while playing for New Orleans. He came back a year later but once again testing positive for bud. Ricky “I Swear it’s Medicinal” Williams took his act to the CFL for a season in 2006 but has attempted to rekindle his NFL career.
9. Randy Couture - More recently, this founding father of Ultimate Fighting retired after losing to archrival Chuck Liddell in 2006, but came back half a year later to win the UFC Heavyweight Title again. However, contractual disputes with the UFC led to his resignation and a bit of a sour ending to an amazing career for the 45 year old.
10. Brett Favre - Yes, I’m going here. If the legendary Favre decides to unretire after such a storied career and that tearful goodbye, I’m going to hurl. And so will Minnesota Vikings fans.
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