Greatest Players with the Shortest Careers
created by tim
Jim Brown
Played only 9 seasons and retired at the age of 29. Amassed over 12,000 yards and 126 TDs in only 118 games
Barry Sanders
Retired at the age of 30 with over 15,000 rushing yards. Led NFL in rushing 4 out of his 10 seasons in the league
Gale Sayers
Played 5 full seasons and parts of 2 others. Completely retired when he was only 28. Played only 68 games. 4 pro-bowls in his 5 seasons
Bo Jackson
Played 4 seasons in the NFL and 8 seasons in Major League Baseball. Went to 1 MLB all-star game where he won MVP of the game. Career .250 hitter with some monster homeruns. In the NFL he was an explosive player who had an 85 yard or longer TD run in 3 out of his 4 seasons. Made 1 pro-bowl.
Sandy Koufax
Not really sure why he is on this list. Yes, he retired at the age of 30 but this was after 12 seasons of big league pitching. Made 7 all-star games. Won 3 Cy Young awards and 1 MVP. In 1963 he went 25-5 with an ERA of 1.88 and 306 strikeouts in 311 innings.
Robert Smith
Played 8 seasons in the NFL, retired at 28. 2 time pro-bowler. Ran for 6800 yards in his career.
Grant Hill
Played 13 seasons in the NBA and still going. Averages 19.3 points per game with 5 assists and 7 rebounds
Comments on this list
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eball
962 points
Grant Hill has had a long career, it's just been injury prone.
pinstripes
15747 points
thats a good point... but actual playtime has been shortened because of his injuries... i don't think he deserves to be last on the list.
old-hoss-radbourn
3189 points
This list is clearly only a 2 person discussion. Jim Brown and Barry Sanders both put up incredible numbers and retired early. The others on this list are no where near Brown and Sanders.
old-hoss-radbourn
3189 points
As for the Grant Hill comments he has been in the NBA for 13 seasons, but has never played a full season and only averages playing 54 games per season. Meaning he sits out 34% of each NBA season.