Basketball's Michael Jordan may have had the most comebacks. He retired after the Chicago Bulls' first "three-peat" in 1993, only to come back to baseball the following year.
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Then he returned to the Bulls in 1995, with a new uniform number:
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That began another "three-peat" run for the Bulls and their "zen master" coach, Phil Jackson. He retired from the Bulls in January of 1999, but a year later, he came back as "President of Basketball Operations" for the Washington Wizards. In the fall of 2001, he returned to play again:
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We "believe" he then played his final NBA game for the Wizards at Philadelphia in April of 2003.
Football's Brett Favre had a difficult time deciding when he should retire. He started with the Atlanta Falcons in 1991, then got the break of his career when he was traded to the Packers the following year. He took over the starting job, replacing Don "the Magic Man" Majkowski and he remained the Packers' starter through the 2007 season, winning a Super Bowl and three NFL MVP awards. He flirted with retiring as early as 2002 (in an interview with Sports Illustrated's Peter King), again in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2008, he retired from the Packers, and ultimately was traded to the New York Jets. He then finished with two more seasons - with the Packers' rival, the Minnesota Vikings:
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In 2011, Favre filed his official retirement papers.
In hockey, Montreal Canadiens great Guy Lafleur was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, then came back to play three seasons, one with the New York Rangers and another two with the Quebec Nordiques. He then called it quits at age 40 after adding 42 goals to his total.
We now know Mario Lemieux as the owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He initially retired in 1997 at the age of 32, following a 50-goal, 122-point season. He previously had beaten cancer and was also hindered by a bad back. He spent three years on the sidelines. Several months after his Penguins opened the 2000-01 season against the Predators in Tokyo, the itch to return hit him and he came back in style. The game was televised nationally, as the Penguins hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 27, 2000.
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The player-owner's return was spectacular: scoring 35 goals in just 43 games. In all, he added 180 games to his career total, along with 77 goals. In his first season back, the Penguins made the Eastern Conference Final, only to lose in five games to New Jersey.
Perhaps the most impressive comeback on ice was that of "Mr. Hockey," Gordie Howe, who had retired in 1971 with 786 goals at the age of 43. Who could have imagined that he would come back after two more years?
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But he did, and brought two of his sons along with him, Marty and Mark. Mark would go on to make the Hall of Fame as well. Gordie retired from the NHL's Hartford Whalers in 1980. He had begun his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings in 1946.
That brings our narrative around to Mike Fisher,
who announced his retirement last August
. Fisher was gone, but not forgotten, and was warmly welcome back for the Western Conference banner raising last October:
