The most shocking career endings for players and coaches

It isn't necessarily surprising that Belichick and the Patriots mutually agreed to part ways after the 2023 season. The team was coming off a 4-13 season, its worst in Belichick's 24 at the helm, and momentum for a breakup had been coming to a head for a few years. What was far more shocking was the fact that Belichick was passed over in the subsequent head coach hiring cycle due in part to his age and perceived demand for complete personnel control. What Belichick does next is a mystery, but at this point, it hardly seems a given that he'll coach again in the NFL.

The 26-year-old Swedish star was at a press conference for a tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, answering a seemingly innocuous question, when he dropped a bombshell: He was retiring from competitive tennis. Borg cited a lack of desire to continue with a grueling playing schedule, and left the door open only for exhibition play. He did attempt a comeback in the early 1990s, but that was short-lived.

When All-Pro linebacker Patrick Willis abruptly retired after the 2014 season due in part to a nagging toe injury, it seemed the team had his ready-made replacement already in-house. Borland, a 2014 third-round pick from Wisconsin, shined as a rookie, including a game where he filled in for an injured Willis and recorded 18 tackles. However, after just one season, he retired, citing concerns about head trauma and its effect later in life. 

The late Browns great retired after the 1965 season, when he was just 30 years old, and presumably with years of good football left in front of him. He was the NFL's all-time leading rusher when he hung up his spikes. Brown had already started an acting career, and when he was threatened by owner Art Modell with fines if he missed training camp, he decided to retire. It's fair to wonder just how eye-popping his numbers would have been had he played a few more years. 

Carroll's 14 years in Seattle made him one of the longest-tenured head coaches in the NFL, and had overseen the Seahawks' successful transition out of the Russell Wilson era. Seattle made the playoffs in 2022 and just missed in 2023, but the franchise decided to go in a different direction, with Carroll saying he "competed pretty hard" to remain the team's coach. He will reportedly remain with the team in an advisory role, but has also stated that he still wants to coach. 

The "Iron Horse" started a then-record 2,130 consecutive games after famously taking over for Wally Pipp, before shocking fans when he voluntarily took himself out of the lineup in 1939, after his play had slumped badly. Gehrig's play had started to tail off in the 1938 season and he struggled in spring training the following year, but no one could have foreseen the ailment (that would eventually bear his name) that sapped his ability to play would take his life just two years after his final game. 

Hayes was a towering figure in the world of college football, but few with his level of accomplishment and influence have had their career end in such ignominious fashion. At the 1978 Gator Bowl, Ohio State was trailing Clemson, 17-15, when freshman quarterback Art Schlichter, with the Buckeyes in field goal range, threw an interception. The intercepting player, Charlie Bauman, was run out of bounds near Hayes, who punched him in the throat. Hayes finished out the game, was fired by Ohio State the next day, and never coached again.

The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion was one of the best players of the early 2000s, known for a lethal one-handed backhand and an overall extremely high level of skill and versatility, even among her elite peers. She lost a clay court match in Berlin in preparation for the French Open, opted the next day to withdraw from an upcoming tournament in Rome, then abruptly announced her retirement on May 14, 2008. Henin did mount a comeback in 2010, before retiring for good due to an elbow injury in 2011.

Other than Randy Moss, there has never been a wide receiver with Johnson's physical gifts. And the second pick in the 2007 Draft paid them off in a big way, with three first-team All-Pro nods, and a league-record 1,964 receiving yards in 2012. Johnson put up 11,619 yards and 83 receiving touchdowns in just nine seasons, despite toiling for a franchise that appeared in just two playoff games during that span (Johnson had 211 receiving yards and two touchdowns in one of those games). The Lions had more winless seasons than playoff wins in Johnson's tenure, and he retired abruptly while still in his prime, with health concerns and the Lions' general malaise as the main contributing factors.

Johnson, along with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, was one of the three defining players of the 1990s NBA, and was still at the top of his game. Through his first 12 seasons, he averaged 19.7 points, 11.4 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game. He shocked the sports world and the country at large when he announced his retirement after the 1990-91 season due to his testing positive for HIV. Johnson returned for 32 games in the 1995-96 season, but it's not an exaggeration to call his initial retirement one of the most shocking moments in sports history. 

Jordan's second and third retirements weren't necessarily shockers. The same cannot be said for his first retirement, which came just months after the Bulls completed a three-peat. Just 30 years old and seemingly at the top of his game, Jordan announced his retirement on October 6, 1993. His father had been murdered in July of that year, and that was a contributing factor in his decision to step away. What came next was almost as surprising, as Jordan pursued his father's dream for him by signing a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox, and suiting up for the Double-A Birmingham Barons in 1994. 

Most of the names you're reading about here are truly all-time greats, some of the most famous athletes who have ever lived. And then there's Jeff King. It isn't like King was some slouch; he was the first-overall pick in the 1986 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. King was a solid, if unspectacular third baseman, who hit 154 career home runs. So, why is he recognized here? King reportedly disliked baseball so much that he abruptly retired on May 23, 1999, with no real warning. It turned out that his pension from Major League Baseball had fully vested a day earlier. 

Koufax is one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, particularly among left-handers. The first three-time Cy Young winner (unanimously, each time), he was also the National League MVP in 1963. His 1966 season was perhaps his best; a third Cy Young, a 1.73 ERA, and a 27-9 record. Shockingly, Koufax retired in November of that year at just 30 years old. Unfortunately, chronic arthritis in his pitching arm became too much to bear, and he hung up his spikes at an age when many pitchers are just hitting their prime.

Kuechly burst onto the NFL scene in 2012, winning Defensive Rookie of the Year and following it up the following season by taking home Defensive Player of the Year. When Patrick Willis retired after the 2014 season, Kuechly was near-universally regarded as the league's best off-ball linebacker. Unfortunately, his career would only last through the 2019 season. Kuechly, a five-time first-team All-Pro, retired in January of 2020, with concussions — he suffered three documented ones during his career — and his overall long-term health as major reasons why. 

Despite having to overcome Hodgkin's Lymphoma and various severe back ailments throughout the course of his career, Lemieux still looked like the best player in the league in 1997, leading the league in scoring with 122 points. Though it wasn't a complete shock — normally hostile Flyers fans gave him a standing ovation in what was his final game — Lemieux hanging up his skates at age 32 was still surprising, as it seemed like his natural gifts would always override whatever ailments he had to battle through. This retirement lasted three years, before Lemieux decided to return to the Penguins in 2000, this time as player-owner. 

For sheer shock value, this might be the most surprising retirement of all. There were no signs that Luck had any intentions to retire, which made his actual announcement of it that much more surreal. The Colts had just finished a preseason game on August 24, 2019, and during said game, word had leaked on social media — and therefore throughout the stadium — that Luck planned on retiring him. Colts fans booed as he walked off the field in street clothes, surrounded by team staffers. Luck cited a number of reasons for his decision, chief among them being sick of rehabbing from constant injuries. 

Still the only heavyweight to retire with an undefeated record, Marciano hung up his gloves on April 26, 1956. His most recent fight had been a grueling nine-round knockout of light heavyweight champion Archie Moore, one that saw Marciano absorb considerable punishment to get the win. Explaining his decision, Marciano simply said, "I am retiring because of my wife and baby. No man can say what he will do in the future, but barring poverty, the ring has seen the last of me. I am comfortably fixed, and I am not afraid of the future."

Until Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux came around (and even after they took the NHL by storm, depending on who you ask) Orr was the greatest player the game had ever seen. He controlled games from the blue line and his superior skating ability made him a major offensive force. To this day, Orr's points per game average trails only Gretzky, Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Connor McDavid. However, he was forced to retire just weeks into the 1978-79 season, at age 30, due to severe knee ailments that required over a dozen surgeries over the course of his career. 

Posey was one of the game's best all-around players from the moment he broke into the big leagues, winning Rookie of the Year in 2010, and National League MVP in 2012. A severe ankle injury 2011 limited his ability to play catcher during the latter portion of his career, and also was the catalyst for a controversial rule change. Posey played just 12 seasons, and given his .302 career batting average, and the fact that he was coming off a very strong 2021, it seemed he could have played for several more seasons when he decided to retire.

Saban's Crimson Tide were thought to be in the midst of a "down" year early in the 2023 season. Naturally, they ended up in the College Football Playoff and pushed eventual champion Michigan to the brink in the semi-finals. What came next was a true shocker: Saban announced on January 10, 2024 that he was retiring from coaching, having posted a 201-29 record at Alabama. 

Sanders' decision to retire from football when he was one solid season (1,457 yards) away from breaking Walter Payton's career rushing record was a true shock. Sanders had just finished his age-30 season, and was only a year removed from a 2,053-yard campaign. Sanders announced his decision via fax to The Wichita Eagle, writing, "Shortly after the end of last season, I felt that I probably would not return for the 1999-2000 season. I also felt that i should take as much time as possible to sort through my feelings and make sure that my feelings were back with conviction. Today, I officially declare my departure from the NFL." It became clear that Sanders' main reason for walking away was the Lions' overall futility, as well as his frustrations with team management. 

One of the most graceful open-field runners the league has ever seen, "the Kansas Comet" was a classic case of a potentially staggering career cut short by injuries. Sayers won Rookie of the Year with Chicago in 1965, then led the league in rushing the following season. After another high-level performance in 1967, he tore multiple ligaments in his left knee in 1968, but after surgery and rehab, came back to lead the league in rushing again in 1969. Sayers suffered bone bruises in his right knee in the 1970 preseason, and only played four more games over the next two years before retiring after a 1972 preseason game, at just 29 years old. `

Schmidt is one of the greatest power hitters the game has ever known, and a player of his caliber would hardly have been blamed for a "farewell tour." He took a different route, retiring suddenly on May 29, 1989, while the Phillies were in San Diego in the middle of a road trip. Schmidt had struggled a bit the previous season, and had already endured a 2-for-40 slump in 1989, but no one on the outside thought he could no longer compete. Schmidt thought differently, telling the Philadelphia Daily News, "I was wondering if I could compete with those guys anymore. I'm watching them and feeling like a shadow of the player I used to be. And that was telling me it was time to turn the reins over to somebody else."

An All-American at Arizona State, Tillman spent four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, and in May 2002 had just been offered a $3.6 million contract by the Cardinals. Tillman turned it down and instead made national headlines by enlisting in the U.S. Army, eventually being assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Tillman was deployed to Afghanistan, where he was killed in a "friendly fire" incident on April 22, 2004. 

The fifth-overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, Williams played three seasons for the New Orleans Saints, who infamously traded the rest of their picks that year for the chance to acquire Williams. After he was traded to the Miami Dolphins prior to the 2002 season, Williams had his best season as a professional, running for 1,853 yards. He followed that up with a 1,372-yard season, but abruptly retired from football on August 2, 2004. He had tested positive for marijuana three months earlier, and was facing a four-game suspension. He ended up back with Miami in 2005, and again from 2007-2010, before finishing his career with Baltimore. Though his career ultimately lasted several more seasons, Williams' initial retirement came as a major shock.

Willis was one of the NFL's best inside linebackers for the entirety of his eight-year career. Despite battling injuries in 2014, most figured the five-time first-team All-Pro would be back and ready to go in 2015. Willis, though, had other plans, retiring two months after the end of the 2014 season, with a nagging toe injury the main factor. Despite his relatively short career, Willis is, as of this writing, a Hall of Fame finalist for the third straight year.