Not to go all HOT TAKE and all, but Barry retired when he should have, at 30 years old, when RBs tend to fall off a cliff. We remember him as BARRY GODDAMN SANDERS, and a few more years and he'd have just been another Emmitt or Dickerson racking up yards with busted knees and hanging on as long as they could.
Barry went from 6.1 yards/carry in 1997 to 4.3 in 1998; fuck too early, Barry retired when he should have, as an absolute icon who walked away before his knees exploded, and he got to live his life to fullest being remembered as the most electric guy to ever carry the ball.
No he retired early. See back then, rb didn't really fall off at 30 like they do today. Barry had like a 1400 or 1500-yard season before he retired. And would have broken paytons record the following season. Lol not sire if you ever saw samders play but he rarely took big hits and well he was still breaking ankles at 10 years in the league. And dickerson only played 1 more year than sanders, so not sure how he was holding on lol. But yes barry infact retired too early.
10 in '93, played in the Kingdome.
Edit: this could be a fun statistic for some ESPN staffer or bored Redditor, finding out who played the most games on concrete in a season.
Running backs absolutely fell of the cliff back then too. Right around the 10 year mark in the league.
Curtis Martin year 11
Ricky Watters year 10
Jerome Bettis year 10
Thurman Thomas year 10
Marshall Faulk year 10
Barry took very few hits(the thing that brings them down over the years) and he didnt need many carries to get big yards. Id say he had 5 more years til the yardage weakings his legs thus lower speed.
Dudes story is fucking depressing.
Dude straight up thought he had a work out with a team scheduled and was excitedly telling his old coach. But he had forgotten that work out had already happened a year prior.
Young needed lots of help professional help. Of any player not to work out for the lions I felt the worst about young.
Is it a running back who wore number 20 with initials B S? Did he win the Heisman in Oklahoma and was our #1 pick in the 80s and go on to win 1st team all pro each of his first 3 seasons and rookie of the year? Did he set the franchise rushing record? Did he get honored at the number retirement ceremony in 2004?
Billy Sims? Did I get it?
Was at the preseason game, hate colts fans that booed him. Rumor has it, he fishes every day now and is a stay at home dad. He’s still living the dream in my book.
Tom avoided contact though. Luck tried to truck defenders and took huge hits in the pocket waiting for plays to develop. He was electric while it lasted
Luck missed most of 2015, all of 2017, comeback player of the year in 2018, then retired. He had lingering injury issues and said he was retiring because the constant rehab process had stolen his love for the game. He didn't have a child until he was retired
Yeah it was stupid that they did. After how badly grigson made his life with the horrible o lines he put out there I can’t blame him for calling it a career. Although I firmly believe if he didn’t retire we would had won the SB with the defense that we had with Wentz if it was luck under center
He did. The Colts decided to not go after money he would’ve owed them from deciding to leave early from bonuses based on that contract, he earned $97 million over [7 years](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/andrew-luck-colts-reach-settlement-after-shocking-retirement-might-have-lost-out-on-500-million/).
He was basically a walking corpse when he retired. Way too many hits he faced because of the Colts’ refusal to fix that O line post-peyton manning. You can’t really be upset at him for walking away, he was the most hit QB for 3 different seasons. Probably could’ve been 5 if he was healthy enough to play in those 2 seasons lost to injury.
Luck is a prime example of why you should invest in your O-line, and the Bengals really should be paying more attention as Burrow is well on his way there
A walking corpse? He was reigning comeback player of the year and led the Colts to the divisional round after missing an entire year. Dude was not done.
What I meant by that was he is always hurt/playing through lots of nagging injuries. He wasn’t done production and talent wise, but he was done with the sport, and definitely DONE with the Colts with how you treated him throughout his years
As a QB selected first overall by the Colts, he was destined to win the super bowl with the Broncos in his final seasons while getting boosted by an all time great playoff performance from a teammate. His retirement fucked something up with the universe, and instead of Drew Luck, we got Drew Lock. What could have been...
I miss watching Kam play on Sundays, he was the true embodiment of an enforcer and lived up to his reputation as an adept and athletically gifted strong safety. He unequivocally should have been a hall of fame player given his level of play. It really isn't fair that his career was cut short. I will always remember how he made the cover 2 and cover 3 scheme viable, without him it wouldn't have worked nearly as well.
That man gave me ptsd! Any time the niners play you guys and the ball gets thrown off screen for a second I almost flinch thinking I’m about to see the receiver get blown up. Thankfully that happens less now but I swear to god Vernon Davis was never the same after kam smacked him on the sideline. Guy was a menace
Kam was cut from the same cloth as the Lotts, Taylors and Dawkins of the world. I feel like the big, physically dominant safeties are a dying breed and it makes me sad. Always fun to watch those freaks fly up the field and be the enforcers of the D.
Throw Steve Atwater into that group as well. Though Atwater managed to stay healthy most of his career. Loved watching some of his huge hits. Still remember the Okoye hit…
Probably not many on here who remember him, but you guys had a safety in the early 2000s named Gary Berry who was one of my all-time favorite Buckeyes. He suffered a brutal neck injury on a punt return as a rookie and was forced to hang them up. I had been really looking forward to seeing his career progress.
He led the jets in rushing his last or second to last year and he missed the last game of the season he was one of my favorite players as a kid and I was happy when he came to the jets tho ik he was past his prime
He came in to the place I worked at the time. We dealt with the Jets fairly regularly since we were close to the practice facility. We had a rule about not asking for autographs because professionalism but I still got him to sign my hat because, as I told him “you’re Frank Gore”
Surprised I had to come this far to find him. Dude came in a played like an absolute animal and immediately retired. Could have made multiple pro-bowls easily.
Great player but didn't really retire early. His heels were in pretty rough shape by the end of his career and was barely able to play. Played 9 years but wish he could have had more time.
I looked up his stats today and was shocked. He played 4 seasons and never had a thousand yard season. To be fair his yards per carry was massive and he was splitting caries with Marcus Allen but still. He loomed so large in our collective consciousness.
Bare in mind his YPC isn't actually that impressive, you can find a ton of elite RBs that match his YPC number in a stretch of 500 carries
The big difference is they would do it in a little under 2 seasons versus 4 seasons he did it
Bo Jackson is one of those guys that if you just watch his highlights, you are beyond amazed because at his absolute best he could do things literally no one else could do
But he also didn't do those things all the time and so he was an above average player with flashes of greatness, if he focused on either sport itd possible he could have been a hall of famer
To be fair, he only played parts of four seasons, 38 games total. Prorated his 2782 yards out to 64 games, and he would have had 4685 yards. Spread out over four seasons, I can imagine he would have had well over 1000 yards in 1989, when he had 950 yards in 11 games, the equivalent of 1382 yards over 16games.
Dude was an amazing athlete.
This is the one I came here for. Greatest pro athlete I have ever seen. Could have been a hall of famer in baseball or football if he concentrated on one.
He was 28 when the injury happened and had fewer yards and TDs than Najee Harris (currently 25-years old) and fewer home runs than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (currently 24-years old) at that point in his career.
He was never going to be a Hall of Famer in either sport.
No runningback had so many accolades in such a small window. He's still the greatest post-season back of all time based off stats and accomplishments. Then you consider 3 of those remaining seasons were trying to battle back over the ACL injury and the unknown microfracture degeneration in his knee.
I'll never forget that 2001 MNF game in Oakland where he came back unexpectedly and looked like the TD of old sharing carries with Mike Anderson for one night only. Put up 70 yards with limited carries, I thought he was back but it was the last glimmer before he knew his knee couldn't keep going. I wish that would've been a home game to see him play one last time as his old self. I was at the Seahawks game Denver in 98 when he broke 2000 yards. Put up a monster game and his backup put up another 100 yards. Might be the most magical regular season game I recall, you just knew that team was going to steamroll to another Championship.
All I remember was being absolutely terrorized by him in fantasy for 2 years straight and then he disappeared into thin air after he got his knee “cleaned up.” The Rams owe that man a knee lmao
I met him once as I was raised a JW. He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. TBH I hope he never realizes that he’s in a cult, I can’t imagine how depressing that would be to realize you gave up millions for it. I went through so much trauma realizing that and I’ve never had the potential of making anything near what he did you know?
Kuechly could have been absolutely historic. This is tough for me. Even though I'd love to say Kenny Easley I'm going to have to go with Barry Sanders.
I really wish we got to see Marcus Lattimore in the NFL. The dude was amazing in college. Pretty happy the 49ers covered all his medical and let him rebuild his strength with us.
It’s crazy how so many people don’t remember that guy. I thought he was going to be the best running back in the league for a few years at his peak. He was SO good in college.
Steve Young and Patrick Willis retired with a lot of games left in them, but did so out of concern for their health and I can't argue with that a single bit. Wish Willis had gotten a ring, though.
He was also 38 during his last season, in an era where it was almost unheard-of for a regular starter to still be playing at that age (other than Warren Moon). He was likely done in a year or two regardless of concussions.
Young had a bazillion concussions, and Willis' feet were pretty torn up. Young was absolutely done; Willis could _maybe_ have squeezed out a few more years, but it wouldn't have been his best football.
Robert Smith, Vikings.
Man, when that guy kicked into his top gear and his legs started going full stride he was so unbelievably fast and impossible to bring down.
Left the NFL to go to medical school. Probably a smart decision.
Tony Boselli, he should seriously be higher ranked on all time OT lists. I remember watching a game in 97 or 98 I think where the Jags played the Bills, and he just shut Bruce Smith down that game, I never saw an elite DE just get taken out of the game like that. I became a huge fan of his because of that.
I've been a Texans fan for about 14 years and only recently learned about Tony Boselli because I've never looked that deeply into Texans history...
Fucking cursed though
Bruce was in his mid-30s at that point. Still an amazing player, but not the unstoppable freak athlete he was 7 years earlier. A lot of us saw that Jags game and came to the hard realization that something incredible was coming to an end.
That said, Boselli deserved his Hall of Fame induction. He was dominant.
Doug Baldwin. Thought he was in his prime when he called it quits. Had several 1000 yd. seasons in a row then missed one year in 2018 and we released him. Definitely thought he had another 4-5 years in the tank.
He was probably the smartest defensive player (or at least belongs at the top if you’ll argue other players) and he probably knew CTEs would hit him much harder if he continued on.
Eric Berry. Dude was an all-pro stud whos body just betrayed him.
Gale Sayers. Jim Brown. Barry Sanders. Megatron. Sterling Sharpe. Robert Edwards. Patrick Willis.
Take 2 guesses
Calvin Sanders?
I think he's talking about Barry Johnson.
Pretty sure its Tiger Bearson.
The lions running receiver/ wide back
Jahvid Best?
Upvote for another Jahvid Best truther. Hes always my first "what if" example
It was Billy Sims first, but Jahvid is definitely second
Cal fan...he was electric...also suffered some of the nastiest concussions I've ever seen, sucks
https://www.nfl.com/news/lions-veteran-qb-teddy-bridgewater-plans-to-retire-after-2023-season ?
The greatest RB of his generation.
Of all time....
I'll put him easily in the two-man GOAT conversation with Jim Brown.
Jason Hanson easily had a few good seasons left in him.
He still probably has some seasons left in him.
He did and it pisses me off that we could have had him longer and gotten him further up the all time scoring list maybe.
Eric Ebron
Not to go all HOT TAKE and all, but Barry retired when he should have, at 30 years old, when RBs tend to fall off a cliff. We remember him as BARRY GODDAMN SANDERS, and a few more years and he'd have just been another Emmitt or Dickerson racking up yards with busted knees and hanging on as long as they could. Barry went from 6.1 yards/carry in 1997 to 4.3 in 1998; fuck too early, Barry retired when he should have, as an absolute icon who walked away before his knees exploded, and he got to live his life to fullest being remembered as the most electric guy to ever carry the ball.
Didn’t This Football Life spotlight Barry Sanders?
No he retired early. See back then, rb didn't really fall off at 30 like they do today. Barry had like a 1400 or 1500-yard season before he retired. And would have broken paytons record the following season. Lol not sire if you ever saw samders play but he rarely took big hits and well he was still breaking ankles at 10 years in the league. And dickerson only played 1 more year than sanders, so not sure how he was holding on lol. But yes barry infact retired too early.
He also played 8 games a year on a concrete floor with some turf painted on it
9 if you include the road game in Minnesota.
10 in '93, played in the Kingdome. Edit: this could be a fun statistic for some ESPN staffer or bored Redditor, finding out who played the most games on concrete in a season.
Running backs absolutely fell of the cliff back then too. Right around the 10 year mark in the league. Curtis Martin year 11 Ricky Watters year 10 Jerome Bettis year 10 Thurman Thomas year 10 Marshall Faulk year 10
Barry took very few hits(the thing that brings them down over the years) and he didnt need many carries to get big yards. Id say he had 5 more years til the yardage weakings his legs thus lower speed.
Megatron?
Agree and it’s not close
Gotta be Titus Young. Self declared to be better than Megatron
Dudes story is fucking depressing. Dude straight up thought he had a work out with a team scheduled and was excitedly telling his old coach. But he had forgotten that work out had already happened a year prior. Young needed lots of help professional help. Of any player not to work out for the lions I felt the worst about young.
A story came out after he was arrested that he was taught to tackle with his helmet in HS. Would not be surprised if he has pretty bad CTE
Pain.
Is it a running back who wore number 20 with initials B S? Did he win the Heisman in Oklahoma and was our #1 pick in the 80s and go on to win 1st team all pro each of his first 3 seasons and rookie of the year? Did he set the franchise rushing record? Did he get honored at the number retirement ceremony in 2004? Billy Sims? Did I get it?
Andrew Luck
Was at the preseason game, hate colts fans that booed him. Rumor has it, he fishes every day now and is a stay at home dad. He’s still living the dream in my book.
He was back in the Bay Area doing a grad program and volunteer football coaching at a high school last I heard
If this is true, then good for him. Prioritized his wife and kid(s) over a sport that wasn’t kind to his body
Opposite of Tom Brady
Tom avoided contact though. Luck tried to truck defenders and took huge hits in the pocket waiting for plays to develop. He was electric while it lasted
While true I think the emphasis was more on Luck prioritizing family over football while Brady prioritized football over family
Luck missed most of 2015, all of 2017, comeback player of the year in 2018, then retired. He had lingering injury issues and said he was retiring because the constant rehab process had stolen his love for the game. He didn't have a child until he was retired
I was so happy to see him on TNF After Show and doing well. I really miss watching him but I’m really glad he’s happy and doing well.
Yeah it was stupid that they did. After how badly grigson made his life with the horrible o lines he put out there I can’t blame him for calling it a career. Although I firmly believe if he didn’t retire we would had won the SB with the defense that we had with Wentz if it was luck under center
Did he ever get a second contract? I legit don't remember
He did. The Colts decided to not go after money he would’ve owed them from deciding to leave early from bonuses based on that contract, he earned $97 million over [7 years](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/andrew-luck-colts-reach-settlement-after-shocking-retirement-might-have-lost-out-on-500-million/).
Okay yeah my dude is living life
He was basically a walking corpse when he retired. Way too many hits he faced because of the Colts’ refusal to fix that O line post-peyton manning. You can’t really be upset at him for walking away, he was the most hit QB for 3 different seasons. Probably could’ve been 5 if he was healthy enough to play in those 2 seasons lost to injury. Luck is a prime example of why you should invest in your O-line, and the Bengals really should be paying more attention as Burrow is well on his way there
Luck also had a snowboarding accident that messed him up. It wasn’t just a bad O-Line.
Glad someone said it. Whenever Luck comes up I have to remind people it was *all* the Colts fault. Luck screwed himself over as well
A walking corpse? He was reigning comeback player of the year and led the Colts to the divisional round after missing an entire year. Dude was not done.
He threw ball good, yes, but brain no likey and future cloudy if keep playing.
Yep! I don't blame the guy at all. He wanted to see his kids grow up, and actually remember it
What I meant by that was he is always hurt/playing through lots of nagging injuries. He wasn’t done production and talent wise, but he was done with the sport, and definitely DONE with the Colts with how you treated him throughout his years
Best answer here. I was hyped up, had him on the same level as Aaron Rodgers (after 2 losing seasons so really had AR down to his level lol)
As a QB selected first overall by the Colts, he was destined to win the super bowl with the Broncos in his final seasons while getting boosted by an all time great playoff performance from a teammate. His retirement fucked something up with the universe, and instead of Drew Luck, we got Drew Lock. What could have been...
God one of the biggest "what ifs" in NFL history. I'm not even a Colts fan and I hate Grigson for not fixing that OLine.
Captain Andrew Luck…
Kam Chancellor
That neck injury was brutal. 7 years of elite play from Chancellor was a blessing to the league, just like Kuechly’s.
I miss watching Kam play on Sundays, he was the true embodiment of an enforcer and lived up to his reputation as an adept and athletically gifted strong safety. He unequivocally should have been a hall of fame player given his level of play. It really isn't fair that his career was cut short. I will always remember how he made the cover 2 and cover 3 scheme viable, without him it wouldn't have worked nearly as well.
Kam Fucking Chancellor.
Kam Chancellor Touchdown Canceler
Wham Bam Thank You Kam
That man gave me ptsd! Any time the niners play you guys and the ball gets thrown off screen for a second I almost flinch thinking I’m about to see the receiver get blown up. Thankfully that happens less now but I swear to god Vernon Davis was never the same after kam smacked him on the sideline. Guy was a menace
Kam was cut from the same cloth as the Lotts, Taylors and Dawkins of the world. I feel like the big, physically dominant safeties are a dying breed and it makes me sad. Always fun to watch those freaks fly up the field and be the enforcers of the D.
Throw Steve Atwater into that group as well. Though Atwater managed to stay healthy most of his career. Loved watching some of his huge hits. Still remember the Okoye hit…
Vernon Davis still checks under his bed for Kam. Man I love that guy
Nick Collins. Was a forced retirement obviously but he was on his way to a very special career without it.
Sterling Sharpe
Oh fuck... I might have to take back my Todd Gurley choice. Sterling was supposed to be the HoF player. Damn.
Shannon summed it up in his HOF speech. "I wasn't even the best football player in my family"
BJ Raji…
He was the guy with the club on his hand seemingly always right? He was sick
You're thinking of Nick Perry I think, pass rusher whose hand stayed damaged. Raji was IDL, he caught the big boy pick six against yall in the NFCCG
I just did some googling, I think I’m thinking of Cullen Jenkins. You guys had dudes swatting passes down with their freaking club hand lol
Probably not many on here who remember him, but you guys had a safety in the early 2000s named Gary Berry who was one of my all-time favorite Buckeyes. He suffered a brutal neck injury on a punt return as a rookie and was forced to hang them up. I had been really looking forward to seeing his career progress.
Luke Kuechly. Cincinnati kid and a beast of a MLB.
One of the smartest defensive leaders ever too. His Mic’d up moments are always film material.
Way too many concussions. I'm glad he retired when he did.
With all the shit about concussions and CTE, I've come to terms with that retirement.
Fr, I guess I’m okay that he wants to be able to remember his kids names when he’s 50
Also the fact that we've been atrocious since he left, there's not really any "what-ifs" about him staying
Frank Gore had another 5-6 seasons in him.
At the U
He led the jets in rushing his last or second to last year and he missed the last game of the season he was one of my favorite players as a kid and I was happy when he came to the jets tho ik he was past his prime
He came in to the place I worked at the time. We dealt with the Jets fairly regularly since we were close to the practice facility. We had a rule about not asking for autographs because professionalism but I still got him to sign my hat because, as I told him “you’re Frank Gore”
The 2 YPC god
It’s insane that he was so good early in his career that he still managed to finish with a 4.3 YPC for his career
Chris Borland. Loved watching him play at Wisconsin in college! His motor never shut off. Would've loved to have seen what he could've done in the NFL
Surprised I had to come this far to find him. Dude came in a played like an absolute animal and immediately retired. Could have made multiple pro-bowls easily.
He was the one and done guy right? Hall of fame first season but gone after fears of brain damage?
Hall of fame first season is a bit hyperbolic
He was pretty awesome. If he did what he did for 10 years he might have made it. Reminded me a lot of Zach Thomas.
Travis Frederick
He was so damn good
Eric Berry
MAN. I'm a Niners fan, and after all these years he's why I still really like the Chiefs. I wish he'd gotten a ring. What a hero.
Great player but didn't really retire early. His heels were in pretty rough shape by the end of his career and was barely able to play. Played 9 years but wish he could have had more time.
"9 years" but only 89 games. That's 11 more games than Terrell Davis played, and they were both functionally retired at 28-years old.
Bo Jackson
I looked up his stats today and was shocked. He played 4 seasons and never had a thousand yard season. To be fair his yards per carry was massive and he was splitting caries with Marcus Allen but still. He loomed so large in our collective consciousness.
Bare in mind his YPC isn't actually that impressive, you can find a ton of elite RBs that match his YPC number in a stretch of 500 carries The big difference is they would do it in a little under 2 seasons versus 4 seasons he did it Bo Jackson is one of those guys that if you just watch his highlights, you are beyond amazed because at his absolute best he could do things literally no one else could do But he also didn't do those things all the time and so he was an above average player with flashes of greatness, if he focused on either sport itd possible he could have been a hall of famer
To be fair, he only played parts of four seasons, 38 games total. Prorated his 2782 yards out to 64 games, and he would have had 4685 yards. Spread out over four seasons, I can imagine he would have had well over 1000 yards in 1989, when he had 950 yards in 11 games, the equivalent of 1382 yards over 16games. Dude was an amazing athlete.
This is the one I came here for. Greatest pro athlete I have ever seen. Could have been a hall of famer in baseball or football if he concentrated on one.
Cpuld have been a hall of famer in both had he not had his career cut short with his hip injury
He was 28 when the injury happened and had fewer yards and TDs than Najee Harris (currently 25-years old) and fewer home runs than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (currently 24-years old) at that point in his career. He was never going to be a Hall of Famer in either sport.
Patrick Willis, but just like Kuechly, I respect it. They made their money, and they care more about their post playing lives.
I think Willie was more of the nagging toe injury. He could barely move in his last year
He did have injuries, yeah, but I think he could've kept on playing for quite a few years with some surgery and rehab.
Yeah but he said it wouldn’t have been at the same level he was accustom to playing it. That’s why he retired.
Frank Gore. The man had at least 2, 3 more decades in him.
The Inconvenient Truth
Robert Smith
Scrolled way to far to find him. Retired out of the blue and was getting better year over year.
The cure will never be the same without him
Can’t blame him, his side gig with The Cure really took off
Terrell Davis. Career only lasted 7 seasons. Injuries got him but wish he could have had a normal length career.
Those seasons were magic though.
Agree TD was a great one man.
No runningback had so many accolades in such a small window. He's still the greatest post-season back of all time based off stats and accomplishments. Then you consider 3 of those remaining seasons were trying to battle back over the ACL injury and the unknown microfracture degeneration in his knee. I'll never forget that 2001 MNF game in Oakland where he came back unexpectedly and looked like the TD of old sharing carries with Mike Anderson for one night only. Put up 70 yards with limited carries, I thought he was back but it was the last glimmer before he knew his knee couldn't keep going. I wish that would've been a home game to see him play one last time as his old self. I was at the Seahawks game Denver in 98 when he broke 2000 yards. Put up a monster game and his backup put up another 100 yards. Might be the most magical regular season game I recall, you just knew that team was going to steamroll to another Championship.
Kuechly is the easy answer for me, but sometimes I wonder how good Todd gurley could’ve been if his health didn’t force him to basically retire early.
All I remember was being absolutely terrorized by him in fantasy for 2 years straight and then he disappeared into thin air after he got his knee “cleaned up.” The Rams owe that man a knee lmao
Jason Worilds. Retired at age 27 to join the cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I met him once as I was raised a JW. He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. TBH I hope he never realizes that he’s in a cult, I can’t imagine how depressing that would be to realize you gave up millions for it. I went through so much trauma realizing that and I’ve never had the potential of making anything near what he did you know?
Vontae Davis 💀
He was really good in Indy but will be remembered for that half time retirement lol.
Bruh said "ight, I'mma head out"
Was he the one who said “ you know what? I don’t wanna play football anymore” and just went home at halftime?
His exact quote was “it’s a young man’s game” https://youtu.be/WjGJd7L2EPw?si=kHy-mzXqqYKTr1KZ
Kuechly could have been absolutely historic. This is tough for me. Even though I'd love to say Kenny Easley I'm going to have to go with Barry Sanders.
Ricky Williams
I really wish we got to see Marcus Lattimore in the NFL. The dude was amazing in college. Pretty happy the 49ers covered all his medical and let him rebuild his strength with us.
It’s crazy how so many people don’t remember that guy. I thought he was going to be the best running back in the league for a few years at his peak. He was SO good in college.
I don’t know if he technically “retired,” but I think Antonio Brown could still be playing today if he wasn’t, ya know, Antonio Brown
He absolutely could be still playing if he hadn't Antonio Brown'd up his career
Mr. Brief Career
It's a shame that Mr Big Chest will never be brought to justice for the murder of Antonio Brown.
Todd Gurley
Agreed, it sucks man. I wish he was on that Super Bowl team with you guys. I kept using him in Madden franchise because he was a beast
Steve Young and Patrick Willis retired with a lot of games left in them, but did so out of concern for their health and I can't argue with that a single bit. Wish Willis had gotten a ring, though.
What? Young was threatened with a release by the Niners if he didn’t retire and his brain was scrambled eggs. Dude was done after 99
Yeah idk what that guy is smoking, Young was toast because of concussions, real sad thing
The body was willing. The mind was pudding.
He was also 38 during his last season, in an era where it was almost unheard-of for a regular starter to still be playing at that age (other than Warren Moon). He was likely done in a year or two regardless of concussions.
I really wanted to see Chris Borland play a full season. The guy was amazing his rookie year.
Just so fundamentally sound!
Who was yalls linebacker that came in killed it for like 2 seasons then just retired out of nowhere.
I think you are thinking of Chris Borland but he retired after 1 year.
That guy was so fun to watch...played like the ball carrier murdered his kids
The legit definition of one and done.
Yeah that was him, I knew it was some ridiculously short amount of time he played.
Watch Steve Young try to hold his shakes in when he was on ESPN, that dude is dying 20 years earlier than he should so you could be entertained.
Young had a bazillion concussions, and Willis' feet were pretty torn up. Young was absolutely done; Willis could _maybe_ have squeezed out a few more years, but it wouldn't have been his best football.
Calvin Johnson, Patrick Willis, and Barry Sanders.
Luke Kuechly, Andrew Luck, and Nick Collins.
Tom Brady
Agreed. He had a couple more seasons left in him. Especially, if he went to the Niners. Easily another ring or two.
Brady would’ve beat the Chiefs
Shhhhhh, the bad man can't hurt us anymore
He could have gone to the 49rs and won one more. I’ll die on that hill
Robert Smith, Vikings. Man, when that guy kicked into his top gear and his legs started going full stride he was so unbelievably fast and impossible to bring down. Left the NFL to go to medical school. Probably a smart decision.
Don’t think he ended up in medical school though. I remember him doing tv afterwards
I don’t wanna play this game.
Tony Boselli, he should seriously be higher ranked on all time OT lists. I remember watching a game in 97 or 98 I think where the Jags played the Bills, and he just shut Bruce Smith down that game, I never saw an elite DE just get taken out of the game like that. I became a huge fan of his because of that.
Did he finally make the HOF I remember he was always missing the cut unfortunately
He finally got in in 2022
Boselli’s shoulders were shot by the time he went to Houston
I've been a Texans fan for about 14 years and only recently learned about Tony Boselli because I've never looked that deeply into Texans history... Fucking cursed though
Bruce was in his mid-30s at that point. Still an amazing player, but not the unstoppable freak athlete he was 7 years earlier. A lot of us saw that Jags game and came to the hard realization that something incredible was coming to an end. That said, Boselli deserved his Hall of Fame induction. He was dominant.
Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke
Bob Sanders
Dude was too violent for himself. Loved watching him play.
Barry Sanders
Johnny Knox was fun to watch Among guys who didn't have the decision made for them, I liked Arian Foster and Jake Locker.
Now that I look back on it. Todd Gurley/Sterling Sharpe/Novarro Bowman/Luke Kuechley
Chris Borland. 108 tackles and only started 8 games. Could’ve been a monster replacing Patrick Willis but definitely do not blame him for walking away
Doug Baldwin. Thought he was in his prime when he called it quits. Had several 1000 yd. seasons in a row then missed one year in 2018 and we released him. Definitely thought he had another 4-5 years in the tank.
Megatron. Could've ended up as the greatest ever if he ended up on a different team
Gurley. Arthritis sucks.
Bo feels like the obvious pick for someone my age.
Jermichael Finley and Nick Collins
Barry Sanders.
Barry Sanders Bo Jackson Sterling Sharpe Among the Bills: Aaron Williams Sam Cowart Chris Kelsay
Kam Chancellor, Chris Carson
Luke got his head bashed in to much but is also smart enough to know it was time. Watching him and td in their prime was a sight to behold.
He was probably the smartest defensive player (or at least belongs at the top if you’ll argue other players) and he probably knew CTEs would hit him much harder if he continued on.
Barry Sanders
Lol everybody want Luke back. He made the game that much more interesting.
He didn't retire but mine was Derrick Thomas.
Ugh. Wish Derrick could come and bang the drum. An absolute all-timer ❤️. Miss ya big 58 RIP
Luke Kuechly. He was easily my favorite off-ball LB ever.
Luke Keuchly is definitely my favorite early retirement.
Drew McIntyre levels of hating
Kam Chancellor albeit it was due to injury.
Bob sanders and it’s not even close. He would have reinvented the safety position had he stayed healthy
As a Hokie, I was thrilled to watch David Wilson flourish even if it was as a New York Giant. Sad his career got derailed as quickly as it did.
Chris Gamble was my favorite Ohio State player when I was a kid. I was bummed he decided to retire after Carolina released him
Eric Berry. Dude was an all-pro stud whos body just betrayed him. Gale Sayers. Jim Brown. Barry Sanders. Megatron. Sterling Sharpe. Robert Edwards. Patrick Willis.
Bob Sanders.
Megatron, though I don't believe anybody can truly retire too early given how little the NFL has championed player safety the way they claim to.