Athletes who hung on too long...

Brett Hull

557b5b0d793bed253d6eeed1af1f8679_crop_exact.jpg



Grant Fuhr

getty_gfuhr.jpg

 
Shaq on the Cavs and Celtics, Olajuwon as a Raptor, Ewing in Orlando
 
Deion Sanders
Jerry Rice
Holyfield
Clemens
Ricky Henderson

Ran into him in NYC his last year in MLB. At this point in my life I had finsihed university, grad school and had been working a few years. I only mention this because I was in grade school when he entered MLB.
 
yea, Henderson refused to retire but after 06 he wasn't on a team. In '07 GM Billy Beane offered to let him play one game so he could retire and Oakland Athletic but Ricky turned it down, saying he wanted a regular spot on the roster.
 
LMFAO at posters in this thread mentioning MJ

Karl Malone and KAJ are the only other NBA players I can think of that played as well at the age of 38-40

Sure he wasn't prime MJ but he was still pretty damn good. If anything his last comeback enhanced his legacy and his greatness.
 
MMA: Chuck Liddell
Boxing: Muhammad Ali
NBA: Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Moses Malone
NFL: Johnny Unitas, Eric Dickerson, Emmitt Smith
MLB: Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr
NHL: Jeremy Roenick, Martin Brodeur, Mario Lemieux, Peter Forsberg
 
http://culturecrossfire.com/sports/football/jim-brown-80s-comeback/

I recently wrote a piece on Jim Brown's feud with Franco Harris. Harris was on the verge of besting Brown's NFL career rushing record, and Brown was not pleased by Harris' meek running style. Brown went so far as to lobby to be allowed to play for the Raiders. Eventually, he and Harris ended up competing in a four event competition which aired in syndication on Super Bowl weekend of 1985.

Other notables:
Reggie White - I'll never forget the image of White as a Panther, being passed up during running drills by the massive Sean Gilbert.
Lyle Alonzo - A comeback attempt at 40 went badly.
Johnny Unitas as a Charger.
Joe Namath trotting out as a Ram for 4 games.
Brett Favre's final year in Minnesota, where he ended his ironman career by being pummeled into a mass of rubble, never to take another snap.

Who do you have to add?
Several boxers and MMA fighters definitely belong in this category.
Lebron James and Lorenzo Ball.
 
Joe Louis
Floyd Patterson
Chavez
Pac
Fedor
 
I remember that year in LA where old Kirk Gibson was so injured and run down that he could barely make it around the bases.
he was only in his early 30's then. he played another 5 years after he left LA and was right around his normal career averages
 
Babe Ruth had a special courtesy runner with the Braves.
 
LMFAO at posters in this thread mentioning MJ

Karl Malone and KAJ are the only other NBA players I can think of that played as well at the age of 38-40

Sure he wasn't prime MJ but he was still pretty damn good. If anything his last comeback enhanced his legacy and his greatness.
I kind of wish he joined a better team.. but Also those 2 years with the Wizards would've been waaaaaay different if MJ hadn't collided Knees with Thomas. In the 20 games before that unfortunate event he averaged 28 points on 47% shooting/6 rebd/5 assists. He was playing better and better. The wizards wouldve made the playoffs as they were doing pretty good before too.
 
Back
Top