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.
American football
Maxie Baughan (1960–1970, 1974) Ross Brupbacher (1970-72, 1976) Randall Cunningham (1985–1995, 1997–2001) Anthony Davis (2010–14, 2016) Steve DeBerg (1977–1993, 1998) Kyle Emanuel (2015–18, 2020) Carl Etelman (1924–27, 1929) Rob Gronkowski (2010–2018, 2020–2021) Charles Haley (1986–96, 1998–99) Bill Hewitt (1932–39, 1943) Ed "Too Tall" Jones (1974–78, 1980–89) Marshawn Lynch (2007–2015, 2017–19) Rueben Mayes (1986–90, 1992–93) Rolando McClain (2010–12, 2014–15) Randy Moss (1998–2010, 2012) Bronko Nagurski (1930–37, 1943) Red Pearlman (1919–1922, 1924) Jim Ramey (1979–1985, 1987) Manny Rapp (1934, 1937, 1942) John Riggins (1971–79, 1981–85) Deion Sanders (1989–2000, 2004–05) John Tosi (1939–1942, 1944, 1946) Eric Weddle (2007–2019, 2021) Reggie White (1984–1998, 2000) Ricky Williams (1999–2003, 2005–2011) Jason Witten (2003–2017, 2019–2020)
Association football (soccer) 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
Australian rules football
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)
Baseball
Ed Abbaticchio (1897–1905, 1907–1910) Daniel Bard (2009–2013, 2020–present) Chief Bender (1903–1917, 1925) Yogi Berra (1946–1963, 1965) Joe Blanton (2004–2013, 2015–2017) Jim Bouton (1962–1970, 1978) Blaine Boyer (2005–2011, 2014–2018) Dan Brouthers (1879–1896, 1904) Chris Chambliss (1971–1986, 1988) Ben Chapman (1930–1941, 1944–1946) David Cone (1986–2001, 2003) Tony Conigliaro (1964–1971, 1975) Dizzy Dean (1930–1941, 1947) Mike Donlin (1899–1906, 1908, 1911–1912, 1914) Jim Eisenreich (1982–1984, 1987–1998) Kevin Elster (1986–1998, 2000) Jackie Jensen (1950–1959, 1961) Jimmie Foxx (1925–1942, 1944–1945) Jerry Grote (1963–1978, 1981) Emmet Heidrick (1898–1904, 1908) Babe Herman (1926–1937, 1945) Gabe Kapler (1998–2006, 2008–2010) Marc Kroon (1995, 1997–1998, 2004) Minnie Miñoso (1949–1964, 1976, 1980) Charley O'Leary, (1904–1913, 1934) Jim O'Rourke (1872–1893, 1904) Rube Oldring (1905–1916, 1918) Joe Page (1944–1950, 1954) Satchel Paige (1926–1953, 1965) Troy Percival (1995–2005, 2007–2009) Andy Pettitte (1995–2010, 2012–2013) Ryne Sandberg (1981–1994, 1996–1997) Paul Shuey (1994–2003, 2007) J. T. Snow (1992–2006, 2008) Dave Stieb (1979–1993, 1998) George Strickland (1950–1957, 1959–1960) Sam Thompson (1885–1898, 1906) Salomón Torres (1993–1997, 2002–2008) Hal Trosky (1933–1941, 1943, 1946) Lloyd Waner (1927–1942, 1944)