5 NFL players who retired too soon

1. Jim Brown

Arguably the greatest football player of all time, Jim Brown is one of the most interesting figures in NFL history. Whereas Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders retired because they got tired of losing, and Sterling Sharpe and Dick Butkus were forced to retire because of career-ending injuries, Jim Brown retired simply because he felt he had accomplished all he set out to do as a professional football player.

“I am leaving the (Cleveland) Browns with an attitude of friendliness and cooperation,” he told a newspaper in 1966. “Once I return to Cleveland I’ll do everything I can to help the Browns – other than playing.”

It may be hard for modern-day fans to remember, but there was once a time when Cleveland wasn’t such a cursed sports city. The Browns actually won an NFL championship in 1964, and were runners-up in Jim Brown’s rookie and final seasons as a pro (1957 and 1965, respectively). Of course, all of these accolades predated the Super Bowl era, so nowadays they’re not remembered with the same kind of reverence that Vince Lombardi’s early championship run enjoys.

Nevertheless, Jim Brown is the single most important player in Cleveland Browns history, and remains to this day a pioneering figure in NFL lore. He led the league in rushing in eight of his nine seasons, was the first player to reach 100 career rushing touchdowns, and was a Pro Bowler every year of his short career. To this day, Brown is still Cleveland’s all-time leading rusher and is ninth on the NFL’s all-time rushing list.