10 NFL Player Comebacks Of All-Time That Shocked the World

The NFL is an intense league with crazy players who are willing to do things that other, normal… sane people probably wouldn’t. Which is why over the years we have seen some ridiculous comebacks from NFL guys that we thought for sure were done with their playing days—or in some cases… their playing days were done with them!

But the league’s history is filled with players who walked away, hung it up, moved on with their lives… and then came right back. Some came back for one more ring. Some came back because they couldn’t quit. And some came back because, well, they literally had no other options.

Today, we’re counting down the 10 craziest NFL player comebacks of all time. And trust me… some of these stories are absolutely insane.

Which NFL players have crazy comebacks in league history?

Philip Rivers, QB, Indianapolis Colts

Let’s start with the man of the hour…

Philip Rivers retired after the 2020 season. Since then, he’s been coaching high school football at St. Michael Catholic in Alabama… Became a grandfather… Completely moved on from the NFL. The man was living his best life on the sidelines, teaching kids how to read defenses.

But the Colts had other plans.

Indianapolis is dealing with a quarterback crisis as we’ve never seen. Daniel Jones tore his Achilles. Riley Leonard has a knee issue. Anthony Richardson is on IR with a broken orbital bone. They literally ran out of options. Every quarterback on the roster was either hurt or unavailable.

So they called Rivers, with whom coach Shane Steichen has a long-standing relationship, and quickly signed him to the practice squad, then activated him to the 53-man roster.

Just like that. From Friday night lights to Sunday afternoon football in less than a week.

44 years old after four years away…  Coaching high schoolers one week and acing an NFL defense the next? That’s absolutely insane. 

Alex Smith, QB, Washington Football Team

This one is different. This isn’t about retirement… This is about survival.

In 2018, Alex Smith suffered a compound tibial and fibular fracture. His leg snapped in half on a sack. The images were gruesome. But that was just the beginning of a nightmare that would last nearly two years.

Three days after surgery, Smith developed sepsis from necrotizing fasciitis… flesh-eating bacteria. His life was in danger. Doctors actually considered amputating his leg. 

Not “almost” considered… they were genuinely preparing for it until he had a turn for the better.

Smith had to wear an external fixation device for nine months… a metal cage bolted into his leg. 

The guy underwent 17 surgeries… 17.

Most people would never walk normally again. Most people would be happy just to live a regular life after something like that, but that wasn’t enough for Alex; he wanted to play in the NFL again—to prove that he could.

In 2020, he came back. And not just as a backup getting garbage time snaps… he went 5 and 1 as a starter and led Washington to their first NFC East title since 2015. The same leg that doctors almost cut off was carrying him through NFL games.

He won the AP Comeback Player of the Year award with 49 of 50 votes. And honestly, it should have been unanimous. 

What Alex Smith did wasn’t just an NFL comeback… it was defying medical science. It was proving that willpower can overcome almost anything.

Brett Favre, QB, Minnesota Vikings

Here is one that everyone knows well… the Brett Favre saga! 

The Packers’ long-time quarterback retired from the NFL… twice. And came back… twice.

Pretty straightforward, right? Well, not so fast.

That retirement lasted less than two months. He filed for reinstatement in the summer of 2008, hoping to return to Green Bay. But the Packers had moved on to Aaron Rodgers. They’d already handed him the keys. So they traded Favre to the Jets.

One season in New York. Then he retired again. This time it would stick… right?

But August 2009… he came back. And here’s where it gets spicy. Favre didn’t sign with some random team. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Green Bay’s division rival. The Packers’ sworn enemy. The team they play twice a year, every year.

And he was phenomenal. 4,202 yards. 33 touchdowns in his first season in Purple and Gold. He swept Green Bay that season… beat them twice. Fans in Wisconsin were furious. 

Vikings fans were loving every second of it, until that devastating loss to the bounty gate Saints in the NFC Championship Game.

Say what you will about Favre, but the guy couldn’t quit for better or worse… 

Randall Cunningham, QB, Minnesota Vikings

Randall Cunningham retired after a disappointing 1995 season with the Eagles. The magic was gone. The dual-threat quarterback who had revolutionized the position… he was done. He opened a granite and marble shop. Moved on from football entirely. Started a new chapter.

Then Dennis Green called.

The Vikings head coach convinced Cunningham to come back in 1997. He barely played that year… just a backup role, feeling things out. But in 1998, at 35 years old, Randall Cunningham had the best season of his entire career.

Think about that. After retiring. After being away from the game. After everyone had written him off, he came back and had his best year ever.

The numbers are ridiculous. 3,704 yards. 34 touchdowns. 10 interceptions. A 106.0 passer rating that led the NFL. First-Team All-Pro at 35. This wasn’t just a comeback… this was a resurrection.

And the Vikings went 15-1. They scored 556 points… an NFL record at the time. Cunningham had Cris Carter and rookie Randy Moss to throw to. Moss was a rookie, by the way… a 21-year-old freak athlete catching everything Cunningham threw his way. That offense was unstoppable.

Unfortunately, that season did end in heartbreak, as is par for the course with the Vikings… and Cunningham never got his ring. However, that comeback season was one of the greatest we’ve ever seen in the NFL.

Eric Weddle, S, Los Angeles Rams

Eric Weddle retired after the 2019 season with the Rams as a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time First-Team All-Pro. 

One of the smartest safeties to ever play the game called it quits to become a high school football coach at Rancho Bernardo in San Diego. 

Then, in the midst of a postseason run, the Rams called. Jordan Fuller was done for the year with an ankle injury. Taylor Rapp was in concussion protocol. They needed a safety. And they needed one for the playoffs. Not for the regular season… for a Super Bowl run.

So Weddle came back… for the postseason only. Two years removed from the game. No training camp. No preseason reps. Just straight into playoff football.

His snap count was impressive as it gets… 34% in the Wild Card round… getting his legs back. 85% in the Divisional round… finding his rhythm. Then 100%… all 51 snaps in the NFC Championship, where he led the team with nine tackles.

And in the Super Bowl, he played all 61 snaps and wore the green dot helmet, calling the plays for the defense. The guy who hadn’t played in two years was the quarterback of the defense in the Super Bowl. Talking about an NFL comeback.

And when he tore his pectoral on a hit against Joe Mixon… of course, he kept playing and finished the game, which the Rams won, 23-20 over the Bengals. 

Eric Weddle came out of retirement, played four playoff games, won a Super Bowl, tore his pec in the championship, and then re-retired.

That’s the most absurd playoff rental in NFL history. And honestly? It might never be topped.

Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Whelp… this one was short-lived! 

February 2022. Tom Brady retires from the NFL. The farewell posts go up, tributes pour in, and the GOAT is done… only to have the news break two months later that Tom Brady was unretiring from the NFL.

That’s 40 days. The shortest retirement in league history. Forty days of “retirement” before he changed his mind and came back for one more run.

Guy didn’t even file the paperwork!

At 44 years old, Brady came back for one more season and led the NFL in attempts and completions. Threw for 4,694 yards. And somehow… the Buccaneers won the NFC South at 8 and 9. A losing record… and they still won the division.

Granted, that final season wasn’t his best. Tampa lost in the Wild Card round. But the fact that he came back at all after 40 days… after the farewell posts… after the thank you messages… after everyone had accepted it was over… it was peak Brady. The man just couldn’t walk away.

He finally retired for good in February 2023. And this time? It’s permanent. Brady is now a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, which means he legally cannot unretire again under the rules; thus, no comebacks for him now in the NFL.

Knowing Tom though… You know he thinks he’s still got it. He just can’t prove it.

Rob Gronkowski, TE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

When Tom Brady left Foxborough for Tampa Bay, the rumor mill quickly started churning and proved to be correct… Rob Gronkowski couldn’t stay retired.

Gronk had stepped away after the 2018 season. Nine years with the Patriots, countless big catches, and three Super Bowl titles. 

His body was beat up… the injuries had piled up over the years. 

But Brady’s leaving New England changed everything. When the GOAT calls and says he needs you in Tampa… you answer. The Patriots traded Gronkowski to the Buccaneers in April 2020. And in his first season back… he won his fourth Super Bowl, delivering some big moments in that postseason too!

Gronkowski played two more seasons in Tampa before retiring again in 2022, but it was great to see the Brady-Gronk connection on full display one last time.

Deion Sanders, CB, Baltimore Ravens

Deion Sanders retired after the 2000 season with Washington, and everyone thought he was done, but three years later, at 37 years old, he came back.

Prime Time. One of the greatest cornerbacks in NFL history. Eight-time Pro Bowler. Six-time First-Team All-Pro. Two-time Super Bowl champion. The man had nothing left to prove, but Ray Lewis and Corey Fuller got in his ear and convinced him to join the Baltimore Ravens. They wanted that veteran presence in the secondary.

And in true Prime Time fashion, Deion had a detail about his return that only he could pull off… he wore #37 to match his age rather than his usual #21.

Over two seasons in Baltimore, Sanders picked off five passes. He had his 9th career interception return touchdown, which tied him for 2nd all-time at that point. Still making plays at 37 and 38 years old.

Was he the same Deion who dominated in the ’90s? No. He only started six games total. But the fact that he came back at 37, three years removed from the game, and was still making plays? That’s Hall of Fame confidence.

Marshawn Lynch, RB, Las Vegas Raiders

Marshawn Lynch retired after the 2015 season with Seattle and had four Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl ring on his resume.

With the beating that he took on the football field and the commercial opportunities that he had off of it, many expected him to settle into retirement quickly.

That quickly changed when he got an opportunity to play for his hometown team.

The kid from Oakland, who grew up watching Raiders games, who wore silver and black his whole childhood… came out of retirement and Seattle dealt him to Mark Davis and the crew, and he finally got to play in front of his people. That meant everything to him.

The Raiders stint was two seasons… mixed results, if we’re being honest. The team wasn’t great. Lynch wasn’t the same back then as he was in his Seattle prime. But that wasn’t really the point. Lynch got to represent where he came from on the biggest stage. He got to run through the tunnel at the Coliseum as a Raider.

And then, in 2019, he came back again. Briefly, the Seahawks brought him back for the playoffs when their backfield got decimated by injuries. Beast Mode, returning to Seattle for one more postseason run. He even scored a touchdown against the Eagles in the Wild Card round, which gets him bonus points for his short-lived NFL comeback!

Brandon Graham, DE, Philadelphia Eagles

So much for going out on top and riding off into the sunset!

Brandon Graham retired in March 2025 after the Eagles’ victory in Super Bowl 59, and he re-injured his triceps… the same injury that sidelined him for nine weeks during the season. 

With all of the injuries and wear and tear, he decided that 15 years in Philadelphia was time. 

The man who played hero and stripped the ball from Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII… he was finally walking away.

Or so we thought! Because that retirement lasted seven months.

When Za’Darius Smith abruptly retired after Week 5, the Eagles were thin at defensive end. So they called Graham and… go figure… he answered. Because that’s who Brandon Graham is… a guy who shows up when his team needs him and wants to compete. 

At 37 years old, Graham is back for his 16th season… a franchise record. He’s the only Eagle to ever play in more than 200 regular-season games. Two Super Bowl championships. Third-most sacks in franchise history. A Philadelphia legend through and through. 

The man just won’t quit. And Eagles fans wouldn’t have it any other way.