List of athletes who came out of retirement

This sports-related list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2021)

In most cases, when a professional athlete announces retirement, he or she retires and then never returns to playing professional sports; however, in rare instances there are some athletes who came out of retirement. The following list shows such athletes in addition to any noteworthy achievements that they earned during their playing career after returning from retirement. It includes only professional athletes who announced retirement, were retired for at least one full season or year, and then returned to play their sport in at least one regular season contest. The list does not include players who sat out at least one full season due to injury and then returned to play without having ever officially announced retirement, nor does it include players whose careers were interrupted because of military service or incarceration. It also excludes free agents who were unable to find a team for at least a season and signed with a team at a later point without having ever officially announced retirement. Also excluded are those who continued their careers in senior tours as is the case in tennis, snooker and golf.

Randy Moss with the Minnesota Vikings in 2010 (left) and the San Francisco 49ers in 2012 (right) after having announced his retirement before the intervening season

• Maxie Baughan (1960–1970, 1974)^[1]
• Ross Brupbacher (1970-72, 1976)^[2][3]
• Randall Cunningham (1985–1995, 1997–2001)^[4]
• Anthony Davis (2010–14, 2016)^[5][6]
• Steve DeBerg (1977–1993, 1998)^[7]
• Kyle Emanuel (2015–18, 2020)^[8][9]
• Carl Etelman (1924–27, 1929)^[10][11]
• Russ Francis (1975-80, 1982-89)
• Rob Gronkowski (2010–2018, 2020–2021)^[12]
• Charles Haley (1986–96, 1998–99)^[13][14]
• Bill Hewitt (1932–39, 1943)^[15]
• Ed "Too Tall" Jones (1974–78, 1980–89)^[16]
• Marshawn Lynch (2007–2015, 2017–19)
• Rueben Mayes (1986–90, 1992–93)^[17][18]
• Rolando McClain (2010–12, 2014–15)^[19][20]
• Randy Moss (1998–2010, 2012)^[21]
• Bronko Nagurski (1930–37, 1943)^[22]
• Red Pearlman (1919–1922, 1924)^[23]
• Jim Ramey (1979–1985, 1987)^[24]
• Manny Rapp (1934, 1937, 1942)^[25]
• John Riggins (1971–79, 1981–85)^[26][27]
• Deion Sanders (1989–2000, 2004–05)^[4]
• John Tosi (1939–1942, 1944, 1946)^[28]
• Eric Weddle (2007–2019, 2021)^[29]
• Reggie White (1984–1998, 2000)^[4]
• Ricky Williams (1999–2003, 2005–2011)^[30][31]
• Jason Witten (2003–2017, 2019–2020)^[32]

• Zico (1971–1989, 1991–1994)
• Alan Judge (1978–1997, 2002–2004)
• Aldair (1986–2005, 2007–2008)
• Marc Overmars (1990–2004, 2008–2009)
• Roberto Carlos (1991–2012, 2015)
• Dida (1992–2010, 2012–2015)
• Paul Scholes (1993–2011, 2012–2013)
• Landon Donovan (1999–2014, 2016, 2018–2019)
• Arjen Robben (2000–2019, 2020–2021)
• Dani Osvaldo (2005–2016, 2020)
• Ben Foster (2022-2023)
• Adebayo Akinfenwa 2023

• Gary Ablett Sr. (1982, 1984–1990, 1991–1996)
• Tony Lockett (1983–1999, 2002)
• Tim Watson (1977–1991, 1993–1994)
• Paul Salmon (1983–2000, 2002)
• Peter Hudson (1967–1974, 1977)
• Stuart Dew (1997–2006, 2008–2009)
• James McDonald (1997–2010, 2012)
• Shane Heard (1977–1987, 1991)
• Nathan Ablett (2005–2007, 2011)
• Peter McKenna (1965–1975, 1977)
• Shane Mumford (2008–2017, 2019–2021)
• Dermott Brereton (1982–1992, 1994–1995)
• Scott Hodges (1991–1993, 1996)
• Martin Clarke (2007–2009, 2012–2014)

Blaine Boyer with the New York Mets in 2011 (left) and the Minnesota Twins in 2015 (right) before and after retiring and working at a brokerage firm.

Gabe Kapler with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 (left) and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009 (right) before and after having retired and served as a Minor League Baseball manager.

• Ed Abbaticchio (1897–1905, 1907–1910)^[33][34]
• Daniel Bard (2009–2013, 2020–present)^[35][36]
• Chief Bender (1903–1917, 1925)^[37]
• Yogi Berra (1946–1963, 1965)^{[38][notes 1]}
• Joe Blanton (2004–2013, 2015–2017)^[39][40]
• Jim Bouton (1962–1970, 1978)^[41][42]
• Blaine Boyer (2005–2011, 2014–2018)^[43][44]
• Dan Brouthers (1879–1896, 1904)^[45]
• Chris Chambliss (1971–1986, 1988)^{[46][47][notes 2]}
• Ben Chapman (1930–1941, 1944–1946)^[48][49]
• David Cone (1986–2001, 2003)^[50]
• Tony Conigliaro (1964–1971, 1975)^[51]
• Dizzy Dean (1930–1941, 1947)^{[52][notes 3]}
• Mike Donlin (1899–1906, 1908, 1911–1912, 1914)^[53][54]
• Jim Eisenreich (1982–1984, 1987–1998)^[55][56]
• Kevin Elster (1986–1998, 2000)^[57]
• Jimmie Foxx (1925–1942, 1944–1945)^[48][58]
• Jerry Grote (1963–1978, 1981)^[59][60]
• Chris Hammond (1990–1998, 2002–2006)^[61][62]
• Emmet Heidrick (1898–1904, 1908)^[63]
• Babe Herman (1926–1937, 1945)^[48][64]
• Jackie Jensen (1950–1959, 1961)^[65]
• Gabe Kapler (1998–2006, 2008–2010)^[66][67]
• Marc Kroon (1995, 1997–1998, 2004)^[68]
• Hod Lisenbee (1937–1932, 1936, 1945)^[69]
• Minnie Miñoso (1949–1964, 1976, 1980)^{[70][notes 4]}
• Charley O'Leary, (1904–1913, 1934)^{[72][notes 5]}
• Jim O'Rourke (1872–1893, 1904)^{[73][notes 6]}
• Rube Oldring (1905–1916, 1918)^[74][75]
• Joe Page (1944–1950, 1954)^[76][77]
• Satchel Paige (1926–1953, 1965)^{[78][notes 7]}
• Troy Percival (1995–2005, 2007–2009)^[80][81]
• Andy Pettitte (1995–2010, 2012–2013)^[82][83]
• Ryne Sandberg (1981–1994, 1996–1997)^[84][85]
• Paul Shuey (1994–2003, 2007)^[86]
• J. T. Snow (1992–2006, 2008)^{[87][88][notes 8]}
• Luis Sojo (1990–2001, 2003)^[89][90]
• Dave Stieb (1979–1993, 1998)^[91]
• George Strickland (1950–1957, 1959–1960)^[92]
• Sam Thompson (1885–1898, 1906)^[93]
• Salomón Torres (1993–1997, 2002–2008)^[94][95]
• Clay Touchstone (1928–1929, 1945)^[96][97]
• Hal Trosky (1933–1941, 1943, 1946)^[98][99]
• Arky Vaughan (1932–1943, 1947–1948)^[100]
• Lloyd Waner (1927–1942, 1944)^[101]

• Jonathan Bender (1999–2006, 2009–2010)^[102][103]
• Bob Cousy (1950–1963, 1969–1970)^[4]
• Dave Cowens (1970–1980, 1982–83)^[104][105]
• Carlos Delfino (1998–2013, 2017–present)
• Richie Guerin (1956–1967, 1968–1970)^[106][107]
• Danny Ildefonso (1998–2015, 2023)
• Kevin Johnson (1987–1998, 1999–2000)^[108][109]
• Magic Johnson (1979–1991, 1996)^[4]
• Michael Jordan (1984–1993, 1995–1998, 2001–2003)^[4]
• George Mikan (1946–1954, 1956)
• Sidney Moncrief (1979–1989, 1990–91)^[110][111]
• John Salley (1986–1996, 1999–2000)^[112][113]
• Robert Reid (1977–1982, 1983–1991)^[114][115]
• Brandon Roy (2006–2011, 2012–13)^[116][117]
• Saulius Štombergas (1992–2007, 2009–2010)
• Rasheed Wallace (1995–2010, 2012–2013)
• Kelly Williams (2006–2019, 2021–present)
• Kevin Willis (1984–2005, 2006–07)^[118]

• Joe Louis (1934-48, 1950-51)
• Muhammad Ali (1960–1979, 1980–1981)^[4]
• Sugar Ray Leonard (1977–1982, 1983–1984, 1986–1987, 1988–1991, 1996–1997)^[4]
• George Foreman (1969–1977, 1987–1997)^[4]

• Imran Khan (1971–1987, 1988–1992)
• Ray Illingworth
• Shahid Afridi

• Lance Armstrong (1992–2005, 2009–2011)

Mario Lemieux in 1992 (left) and 2005 (right) before and after retiring due to Hodgkin lymphoma and other injuries.

• Helmuts Balderis (1973–1985, 1989–1990, 1991–1996)
• Barry Beck (1977–1986, 1989–1990)
• Carl Brewer (1957–1965, 1967–1974, 1979–1980)
• Alexandre Daigle (1993–2000, 2002–2010)
• Ron Ellis (1964–1975, 1977–1981)
• Mike Fisher (1999–2017, 2018)
• Dominik Hasek (1980–2002, 2003–2008, 2009–2011)
• Gordie Howe (1946–1971, 1973–1980, 1997)
• Guy Lafleur (1971–1985, 1988–1991)
• Claude Lemieux (1983–2004, 2008–2009)
• Mario Lemieux (1984–1997, 2000–2006)^[4]
• Ted Lindsay (1944–1960, 1964–1965)
• Dickie Moore (1951–1963, 1964–1965, 1967–1968)
• Mark Pavelich (1980–1989, 1991)
• Jim Peplinski (1980–1989, 1995)
• Jacques Plante (1952–1965, 1968–1975)
• Gary Roberts (1985–1996, 1997–2009)
• Al Secord (1978–1990, 1994–1996)
• Steve Smith (1983–1997, 1998–2000)

• Tito Ortiz (1997–2012, 2014–present)
• Randy Couture (1997–2006, 2007–2011)
• Chuck Liddell (1998–2010, 2018)
• Fedor Emelianenko (2000–2012, 2015–present)
• Georges St-Pierre (2002–2013, 2017)
• Urijah Faber (2003–2016, 2019)
• Brock Lesnar (2007–2011, 2016)
• Alexander Gustafsson (2006–2019, 2020–present)

• Neil Bonnett (1974–1990, 1993–1994)
• Ryan Dungey (2006–2017, 2022)
• Niki Lauda (1971–1979, 1982–1985)
• Fred Lorenzen (1956, 1960–1967, 1970–1972)
• Mark Martin (1981–1983, 1986–2006, 2007–2013)
• Michael Schumacher (1991–2006, 2010–2012)

• “Stone Cold” Steve Austin (1989–2003, 2022)
• Bob Backlund (1973–1986, 1988–2001, 2007–2018)
• Christian Cage (1995–2014, 2020–present)
• Bryan Danielson (1999–2015, 2018–present)
• Edge (1992–2011, 2020–present)
• Ric Flair (1972–2008, 2009–2011, 2022)
• Mick Foley (1986–2000, 2004–2012)
• Bill Goldberg (1997-2004, 2015-present)
• Lioness Asuka (1980–1989, 1994–2005)
• Shawn Michaels (1984–1998, 2002-2010, 2018)
• Chigusa Nagayo (1980–1989, 1993–2005, 2008, 2013–2016, 2024)
• Roddy Piper (1969–1999, 2003, 2005–2006, 2009–2011)
• Saraya (2005–2017, 2022–present)
• Ricky Steamboat (1976–1994, 2009–2010, 2022)
• Trish Stratus (2000–2006, 2018, 2019, 2022–present)
• Sting (1985–2016, 2020–2024)^[119]

• Andy Goode (1998–2015, 2015–2016, 2020)
• Peter Rogers (1990–2004, 2007–2008)

• Brent Hayden (2002–12, 2019–present)^[120]
• Michael Phelps (2000–12, 2014–16)
• Dara Torres (1984–92, 2000, 2007–12)

• Björn Borg (1973–1983, 1991–1993)
• Martina Hingis (1994–2002, 2006–2007, 2013–2017)
• Kim Clijsters (1997–2007, 2009–2012, 2020–2022)
• Justine Henin (1999–2008, 2010–2011)
• Caroline Wozniacki (2005–2020, 2023–present)