12 NFL Players to Retire in Their Prime
We're still wondering why they called it quits.
Image via Complex Original
Few NFL players get to choose the manner in which they retire. For many, the 32 teams will just tell a player it’s time to go by not signing him. It’s a little cold and cruel, but that’s the reality of a sport like football where the competition is fierce and never-ending. One day you’re a star, and the next day you’re nothing.
But for a select few, the process of leaving the game occurs in the exact opposite way. Some players are stars right up to the moment they call it quits, ending their careers when they had, at least, a few Pro Bowl-caliber years left in them. Sometimes injuries suddenly render players like Gale Sayers or Terrell Davis physically unable to play; other times, players simply lose the will to participate (think Barry Sanders or Calvin Johnson). An even smaller group simply decides to switch occupations, like Tiki Barber.
Whatever the cause, some of the NFL’s best players have abruptly decided to pack it in and call it a career before many thought their time was up. With Megatron becoming the most recent member to join these ranks, here’s a look at 12 NFL Players to Retire in Their Prime.
Barry Sanders
Technically, Barry Sanders' stunning retirement at age 30 came after what was (for him) a sub-par season; the Lions' fleet-footed running back "only" managed to gain 1,491 yards on the ground that season, his lowest total since an injury-shortened campaign in 1993. With seemingly plenty of good years left in him and fewer than 1,500 yards separating him from Walter Payton's all-time record for career rush yards, Sanders pulled a reverse-Michael Jordan and announced his retirement via fax in July of 1999. While it took him a few years to explain why, Sanders ultimately admitted that the Lions' 5-11 1998 season, the revolving door of quarterbacks, as well as the coaches, caused him to lose his desire to play the game.
Gale Sayers
The Gale Sayers story is one of the great what-ifs in NFL history. A man ahead of his time as an all-purpose back, Sayers collected over 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first three seasons (1965–1967) and was named to the Pro Bowl each year. He was leading the NFL in rushing nine games into his fourth season when he went down with a knee injury, a blow that robbed him of his remarkable speed even after he returned in 1969 to once again lead the NFL in rushing. A second knee injury in 1970 knocked Sayers out of the game for good, but his incredible accomplishments as a running back and kick returner (30-plus yards per return average) earned him enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Jim Brown
Any discussion of the greatest players in NFL history must include Jim Brown. The Cleveland Browns running back possessed an absolutely devastating combination of speed and power—and at 6 foot 2 and 230 pounds he was essentially impossible to bring down once he got going. In nine seasons, he won the NFL rushing title eight times. He won the league MVP as a rookie in 1957, and then again three more times after that, including his final season in 1965. In order to "take on a few projects that are very interesting to me" (specifically, acting) following a remarkable final season, in which he registered 1,544 rush yards, 328 receiving yards, and 21 total TDs, Brown retired from football at age 30 with a letter to Browns owner Art Modell sent from the London set of The Dirty Dozen.
Calvin Johnson
While Calvin Johnson has battled injuries in recent years and is probably not quite at his peak anymore, his retirement on March 8 was still a remarkable conclusion to a Hall of Fame career. Saying in a statement that "I truly am at peace" with the decision to call it quits at age 30, Johnson leaves behind one of the greatest careers in the history of the wide receiver position: nine years, six Pro Bowls, the single-season record for most receiving yards (1,964 in 2012), fastest receiver ever to 10,000 yards (115 games), and every significant Detroit Lions franchise receiving record. Needless to say, his spot in Canton five years from now should be secure.
Robert Smith
While the Cris Carter-Randy Moss duo grabbed most of the headlines for the offensive juggernaut that was the late-90s/early-2000s Minnesota Vikings, running back Robert Smith quietly put up four straight 1000-plus yard seasons from 1997 through 2000. In 2000, it seemed like Smith was set to enter the prime of his career and dominate the league after running for more than 1,500 yards (the most in the NFC) en route to his second Pro Bowl nod in three years. Instead, the 28-year-old veered in the complete opposite direction by announcing his retirement. Despite numerous suitors knocking down his door to sign the free agent running back, Smith confessed 10 years later that "I had been thinking about retirement for a while. Football is such a tough sport on a player's body. I kept thinking, 'What's my body going to be like years from now?'"
Patrick Willis
In his first seven NFL seasons, linebacker Patrick Willis made the Pro Bowl seven times and was a five-time First Team All-Pro. Hampered by toe and hamstring injuries in his eighth campaign, Willis had seemingly minor afflictions considering the frequent punishment he delivered to opposing running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks. And besides, even if he was carrying some small injuries, how serious could it be considering the guy had racked up 950 tackles and 20.5 sacks in just eight years? It thus came as quite a shock to everyone a year ago when Willis—who, at 30 years old, seemingly had plenty of time left as a top-level player—suddenly announced his retirement due to the recurring issues with his feet. He told everyone gathered at his retirement press conference that he could no longer reach the lofty standards he had set for himself, saying that “I know I no longer have it in these feet to go out there and give you guys that kind of ‘Wow.’”
Terrell Davis
During the Broncos’ memorable back-to-back championship seasons in 1997 and 1998, Terrell Davis was front and center as the workhorse running back that played a vital part in veteran quarterback John Elway’s long-awaited Super Bowl victories. In 1998, especially, the then-26-year-old was absolutely sublime; he rushed for 2,008 yards (third-most ever) and 21 touchdowns, taking home NFL MVP honors. That would be his pinnacle, however, as Davis suffered a torn ACL in 1999, a bad stress reaction in 2000, and double-arthroscopic surgery on his knees in 2001 that limited him to a total of 17 post-1998 games and ultimately forced him to retire in the 2002 preseason at the age of 30.
Bo Jackson
We will almost certainly never see another athlete like Bo Jackson. While the running back—who also moonlighted as an MLB All-Star for the Kansas City Royals—did not put up eye-popping numbers in his four seasons with the Raiders, that was largely due to the fact that he was sharing carries with Hall of Famer Marcus Allen. Jackson’s power and speed were unmatched, and ironically it was this otherworldly physicality that caused him to exert so much force in attempting to break a tackle in the Raiders’ 1990 playoff game against the Bengals that the impact broke his hip. The injury and subsequent hip replacement surgery forced Jackson to retire from football, although in 2012 he said that he was planning on retiring from football after that season anyway.
Earl Campbell
For his first four NFL seasons, Earl Campbell was utterly unstoppable. The running back averaged 1,614 yards and 14 touchdowns per year and led the league in rushing three straight years from 1978 to 1980. Weighing in at 244 pounds but also running a 4.5 40-yard dash, Campbell was an utterly punishing runner who relished running both around and over defenders while absorbing plenty of punishment in his own right. After a trade to the New Orleans Saints in 1984, he abruptly retired during training camp prior to the 1986 season at age 31, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and saying only that "I believe this is the best thing—not only for myself, but for the Saints."
Tony Boselli
The man who bears the distinction of the first-ever draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars certainly lived up to his No. 2 overall status in the 1995 NFL Draft, making the Pro Bowl every year from 1996 to 2000 and being named to three All-Pro teams from 1997 to 1999. In his seven seasons for the Jags, Boselli allowed just 15.5 total sacks from his left tackle spot, traditionally the most important position on the offensive line. Although he was selected No. 1 overall by the Texans in the 2002 expansion draft, Boselli never played a down in Houston as he chose to retire due to a nagging injury to his left shoulder.
Sterling Sharpe
Sterling Sharpe posted five 1,000-plus receiving yard seasons during his seven years in the NFL, was a five-time All-Pro, and yet his name is rarely mentioned in the conversation of all-time great receivers. He was undeniably on pace to be one of the greatest players ever, never mind receivers, when two hits in consecutive games at the end of the 1994 regular season jarred two vertebrae in Sharpe’s neck loose. At age 29, he had surgery to correct the problem but never played another down of football, retiring in part because no team was willing to take a chance on a guy with a busted neck. It’s worth noting, however, that the surgery Sharpe underwent—cervical spine fusion—is the same one Peyton Manning had in 2011 that saved his career and allowed him to continue playing another four years.
Tiki Barber
Even though Tiki Barber was coming off the best season of his career—1,662 rushing yards and a Pro Bowl nod—the telegenic New York Giant had his eyes on the entertainment world as the 2006 season wrapped up. Despite no doubt knowing that he still had good football left in him, Barber opted to retire to pursue his dreams off the field. Barber’s team won the Super Bowl without him the next season, and after a few years away from the game, the Giants’ all-time leading rusher discovered that football was more his calling and attempted an ill-fated comeback in 2011 that ended with no team interested in signing him.