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Players in the NFL look at their time on the field as a privilege. Camaraderie with teammates and the ability to play something they love and get paid for it is what draws these top level athletes to the game. This is also what draws them back to the game, past their expiration date.
When a player retires, fans and NFL media reflect on their lasting legacy in the game. They tend to focus on the positive side of their careers. However, if that player makes a return to the field, they risk their legacy being tarnished by the shadow of the player they once were.
At the end of the 2021 season, Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL. Not much later, he announced that he was unretiring and returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It remains to be seen whether Brady will regret that decision, but for these five players who came out of retirement, the regret was all they were left with.
5. Marshawn Lynch
Marshawn Lynch was known for his power-running game and being able to dish out a hit, as well as being able to receive one. Lynch was one of the most underappreciated players of his time and remains one of the league's most popular athletes, even in retirement. His current retirement is not his first. Lynch retired at the end of the 2016 season, but returned with the Oakland Raiders in 2017. During his return season, he was fined $12,000 for an obscene gesture and suspended one game for shoving a referee. He would later return to the Seattle Seahawks, the place of his best years where he helped them beat the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs. It was obvious that Lynch retired too early, but when he came back, he could never truly recapture his peak years.
4. Reggie White
Reggie White was one of the greatest defenders to ever play in the NFL. His relentless pursuit of the league's best quarterbacks' made him a Hall of Famer. White spent the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles (where he amassed an incredible 18, 21 and 18 sack seasons in a row) and Green Bay Packers, where in 1998 he had 16 sacks, won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award and finished the season with three sacks in the Packers' Super Bowl victory. It was a storybook ending that should have stayed that way. Unfortantly, White returned a year to join the Carolina Panthers where he started all 16 games and retired again.
3. Ricky Williams
Ricky Williams will forever remain an NFL enigma. A star running back from the University of Texas, Williams was drafted by the New Orleans Saints after they gave up all of their draft picks to acquire him. Williams would go on to play for the Miami Dolphins, retire early from the league due to an upcoming drug suspension and then return to football in the CFL. Then, he return to the Dolphins for a second time and eventually retired for good after playing with the Baltimore Ravens. Williams ended his career with over 10,000 career rushing yards, but the questions about what could have been will always be there.
2. Jay Cutler
Jay Cutler had all the talent in the world, but could never truly put it together to lead a team to victory. His time with the Denver Broncos showed the promise his career could have had, and when he got traded to the Chicago Bears, it finally looked like the Bears had solved their long-term quarterback problems. Cutler retired, arguably the best to ever play the position in Chicago, but the split with the team was less than amicable. Cutler was released by the team at the end of the 2017 season and replaced by Mike Glennon. Cutler was set to join FOX as a commentator but put that on hold to return to football with the Miami Dolphins in a disastrous year that potentially cost him a huge pay day when you consider the money being thrown around by networks to NFL commentators.
1. Brett Favre
Brett Favre was one of the most exciting quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL. The gun-slinger quarterback was one of the most popular athletes of his generation and was the face of the Green Bay Packers in the 90s. Favre won three straight MVP awards and led the Packers to a Super Bowl in 1997. He became synonymous with the Green Bay organization, and there were plans to retire his number in the opening week of the 2008 season. However, Favre wasn't content with his time in the league, and he wanted to return. The Packers traded him to the New York Jets, and he would finish his career with Packers division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings.
Only recently has the relationship between Favre and the Packers been reconciled. All of this could have been avoided if he had stayed retired the first time.
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