Brady’s retirement was one of the most short-lived in NFL history. After 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl wins, he was set to hang up his cleats for good…until he changed his mind 40 days later.

“These past two months I’ve realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands,” the then-44-year-old Tweeted in March 2022. “That time will come. But it’s not now.”

When Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, his right-hand man joined him. Though the tight end retired in 2018 and sat out the 2019 season, Gronkowski couldn’t pass up the opportunity to win a Super Bowl with his close friend once again—this time in Florida, rather than New England.

He retired for a second time in 2022, but will it stick? NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on Good Morning Football that he “wouldn’t be surprised if Gronk followed [Brady] wherever he went.”

After leading the New York Yankees to five World Series victories, Pettitte’s career was set to come to a close in 2011. But the three-time All-Star returned the following year. It seemingly meant a lot to him to officially retire in 2013 alongside longtime teammate Mariano Rivera. “This group, we’ve kind of had our run here,” he told reporters at the time.

Phelps earned almost every record imaginable over his long career. After the 2012 Olympics, he announced his retirement from the sport. However, he officially became the most decorated Olympian of all time after returning to both the 2014 and 2016 Summer Games, ending his career with a total of 28 medals.

“Being able to close the door on this sport how I want to, that’s why I’m happy now,” he said during his final stretch of races.

Johnson’s first goodbye to basketball was an emotional one, following his positive HIV test before the 1991–92 season. “I just want to say that I’m going to miss playing,” he told reporters. He coached the L.A. Lakers for 16 games the following season, but couldn’t resist returning the next year for half a season before announcing his official retirement.

“It’s time to move on. I am going out on my terms, something I couldn’t say when I aborted a comeback in 1992,” he shared in a statement in 1996.

The boxer had several retirements, his first being after his 1982 knockout win against Bruce Finch. He came back to duel against Kevin Howard in 1984, only to retire yet again at the post-fight press conference. Leonard stepped in the ring once more in 1986, retired in 1987, and returned again in 1988.

Leonard made his final retirement announcement in 1991.”I don’t feel down,” the boxing champ told the media. “I feel good about myself. I’ve had a blessed career.”

Nobody expected MJ to retire in 1993 at age 30. He explained that he had lost his “sense of motivation,” and hinted that it might be temporary. He announced his return to the NBA two years later with an iconic two-word fax: “I’m back.” Three Chicago Bulls championships later, it was a pretty great decision.

Jordan played his final game in 2003, saying, “Now I guess it hits me that I’m not going to be in a uniform anymore — and that’s not a terrible feeling.”

Gordon retired in 2016 after experiencing severe back pains. “I don’t want to live a life where I can’t play with my kids,” he told NBC Sports. The NASCAR legend returned just eight months later for one more race. He was filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., his longtime rival-turned-friend who had been suffering from concussion-like symptoms.

By the time he put his mitt down in 2003, the star pitcher had won six Cy Young Awards. He won another, though, after coming out of retirement the following year. Signing with the Houston Astros, his hometown team, Clemens dominated the MLB for another two seasons. Not only did he bring the Astros into their most successful postseason run at the time, he also scored the NL ERA title. “I loved my time in Houston. Playing at home was awesome,” Clemens tweeted in January 2022.

Namath announced his first retirement in 1969, only six months after leading the New York Jets to a Super Bowl III win—because then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle demanded Namath sell his investment in nightclub Bachelors III. Once the quarterback sold his stake in the business shortly after, he was allowed to return. He played eight more seasons before giving up football forever in 1977.

When New York baseball fans think of Berra, they most often think of his days as a coach and a manager—particularly during the New York Mets’ National League pennant win and World Series run in 1973. But the Hall of Famer actually came out of retirement to play four Mets games in 1965.

The longtime Green Bay Packers quarterback announced his first departure from the NFL in 2008—but he was back five months later. He retired again as a New York Jets following the 2009 season…but joined the Minnesota Vikings in just six months. Keeping with the pattern, he retired once more after the 2010 season.

“By going back, there is no ‘what if.’ I will never have that looming. So I’m glad I went back,” Favre told In Depth With Graham Bensiger.

The Belgian tennis star retired in 2008 while still holding the No. 1 world ranking. She made a one-year comeback in 2010—but ultimately had to leave again to take care of a chronic elbow injury. “I’m going to miss all the great feelings you have as a professional tennis player,” she told the press. “I hope I’ll pick the racquet up again one day, but more than anything I want to live a normal life.”

After his time in the NHL ended in 2003, the right wing returned the following year to play in a pro league in Switzerland. In 2008, Lemieux played in the minor leagues for the San Jose Sharks, and then made a brief reappearance in the NHL in 2009.

“A big part of my comeback was for [my son], and for my family, for all my four kids and my wife,” he shared in a press conference. “It was really a family sort of adventure that we attempted together, and we’re proud of the fact that we did it.”

After retiring in 2018, the Cowboys tight end joined the Monday Night Football broadcast team. Deciding he’d rather be on the field than in the booth, he signed with the team for another year in 2019. He then completed one season with the Oakland Raiders before officially retiring in 2021.

Wallace played for a range of teams throughout his long career, and helped lead the Detroit Pistons to a championship win in 2004. He first retired with the Boston Celtics in 2010, but came back two years later with the New York Knicks. His return didn’t last long, however, as he broke his foot during the 2012-2013 season before announcing his second and final retirement. “Rasheed has given this team everything he had,” Knicks head coach Mike Woodson said at the time.

Lemieux (no relation to Claude) played a total of 17 seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins. After the 1997 season, he retired due to a battle with lymphoma. He returned in 2000 as a Hockey Hall of Famer, and played until the 2006 season. Sadly, his final retirement was also due to a health issue–this time, atrial fibrillation. “If I could still play this game I would be on the ice,” Lemieux said at a press conference. “This is it, and it hurts.”

After medaling in the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Olympics, the swimmer decided to exit the pool for good. But eight years later, Torres felt the urge to race once again. She made a huge splash in 2000, medaling five times at the Summer Games in Sydney. After another eight-year break, Torres made a second big comeback in 2008 at 41 years old. Not only did she medal three more times that year, but she did so as the oldest ever female Olympic swimmer. Torres ended her impressive career with a total of 12 Olympic medals.

The running back was a big part of the Seattle Seahawks’s 2014 Super Bowl championship, playing with the team for one more year afterward. After a short-lived retirement, Lynch was back on the field with the Oakland Raiders in 2017 and 2018 before briefly returning to Seattle in 2019. While he hasn’t played in the years since, he was in 2020 talks with Brady and the Bucs, but decided to pass on the opportunity.

The gymnast celebrated her 33th birthday by hopping back onto the balance beam. Memmel won silver at the 2008 Olympics and retired in 2012, and then returned nine years later to compete in the 2021 US Classic.

“Obviously beam I would have liked to have gone better, but I’m still happy with everything that I did” she later told The Wall Street Journal. “And happy that I was out on the floor, that I put myself out there, to even get to this point, to try this again, to put on a leo and to register for a competition,”

After 13 seasons and 153 touchdowns, the wide receiver decided to retire in 2011…and then announced he’d be returning the next year. Signing with the San Francisco 49ers for his final season, he helped take the team to Super Bowl XLVII.

The famous boxer hung up his gloves in 1977, following a devastating loss to Jimmy Young. When Foreman returned to the ring a decade later, fans couldn’t have been more excited. He beat Steve Zouski in his first fight back and went on to secure many more victories. By the time he officially retired ten years later, he had a career record of 76-5.

“I’ve had a wonderful career. It is my last fight,” Foreman told reporters in 1997. “I’m not going to cry like a baby.”

The All-Star second baseman decided to retire at age 34 during the 1994 season. “I am certainly not the type of person who can ask the Cubs organization and Chicago Cubs fans to pay my salary when I am not happy with my mental approach and my performance,” he shared with the press.

But he’d be back in 1996 for two much better seasons with the team, and left with just one regret. “I had fun playing this game, I’ve enjoyed just about everything I could possibly enjoy except for not being in the World Series,” he said.

The Formula 1 driver won seven world championships before retiring in 2006. His need for speed led him back to race for Mercedes four years later, and he’d remain competing until 2012.

“I have had my doubts for quite a while whether I had energy to [carry on]. I said in 2006 my battery was empty and now I am in the red zone,” Schumacher explained. “I don’t know if there is time to recharge them — but I am looking forward to my freedom.”

After becoming the first three-time world heavyweight championship winner in 1978, Ali decided to leave the sport. He wasn’t done floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee just yet, as he was back in the ring two years later. His final match was in 1981, and he finished his career with a total of 56 wins, five losses, and 37 knockouts.

The quarterback’s 1995 retirement wasn’t a happy one, coming on the heels of losing his starting job with the Eagles to Rodney Peete. “I have no bitter feelings toward Philadelphia,” he told fans. “Thank you for all the good times. Thank you for wearing No. 12 with pride.″

In 1997 he rejoined the NFL as a Minnesota Viking and played football for five more seasons, also playing for the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens. In 2002, he signed a one-day contract with the Eagles to officially retire with his longtime team.

Injuries caused the tennis star to retire the first time around in 2003, at just 22 years old. After returning in 2005, she left the sport once again in 2007 due to similar physical issues. Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013, Hingus began competing once again in 2015 and earned a silver Olympic medal in 2016.

Hingis announced her final retirement in 2017, writing, “The years that followed have been some of the most rewarding years of my life, both personally and professionally, but I believe the time has come for me to retire…”

In terms of comeback success, Palmer doesn’t rank too highly. The Baltimore Orioles ace first retired in 1984 after the team released him. He attempted to rejoin the Orioles in 1991 at age 45, but a spring training game left him unable to play with a hamstring injury. Despite the upset, Palmer’s legacy remained untouched—and his number, 22, was later retired by the Orioles.

The right wing retired in 1971 at age 43, but couldn’t resist rejoining the sport two years later to play alongside his sons in WHA’s Houston Aeros. After the 1979-80 season with the Hartford Whalers, he retired once again at age 52. In 1997, he became the only pro hockey player to compete in six decades by signing a final, one-game contract with the Detroit Vipers. At the time, he was—get this—69 years old.

As the only person to have played in both a Super Bowl and a World Series, Sanders was busy to say the least. After signing a seven-year deal with the now-Washington Commanders in 2000, the cornerback forfeited part of his $8 million signing bonus by unexpectedly retiring early in July 2001. There were reports he had been unhappy with the team while chasing a baseball comeback during the offseason. In 2004, he signed with the Baltimore Ravens for two more seasons before permanently retiring in 2006.