Abrupt retirements

Dale Earnhardt.

 

Thurman Munson

 

I think you're talking to me. Robert Smith was 28 and coming off the best season of his career. He didn't have any injuries, but he wanted to avoid them and knew he could make it in TV.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitRo00.htm

 

Correct. I think it's weird that his was the most stunning retirement of your sports-watching life, or whatever it was you said.

 

Am I forgetting one?

Actually, I'm sort of ignoring Michael Jordan's first retirement because I was pretty young and that clearly was bullshit for one reason or another. Jordan's second retirement was pretty much expected (and his third was about time).

 

For me, the most stunning retirements were Magic, Jordan, and Sanders.

 

Come on now

 

I don't remember Magic Johnson's retirement. Barry Sanders had accomplished so much that I could understand it.

Robert Smith's stands out because it seemed like he was walking away at the moment he finally had tapped his potential fully.

 

I can't imagine any retirement ever topping the "holy shit" factor of Magic.

 

Fair enough. You're younger than I am, obviously.

Still weird, though.

 

Yeah. That's my top seed for sure. Jordan next, then Sanders. I'd have to consult with Google to find any others that were anywhere near that level of stunning.

 

His press conference where Magic said he "attained" the virus was memorable.

On the local (LA) cable channel afterwards, Chick Hearn was talking, and the conversation was about the rumors floating how he got it. The word "gay" never came up, but that was the thrust of the conversation. Chick looked into the camera and admonished viewers: Without saying the word, Chick said if any homosexual rumors came up, "You deny it!!"

I, as the viewer, was supposed to deny it. My friends and I laughed about that for years.