Bjorn is a good one, DMT. He had a lock on Wimbledon & the French. What a cool customer, which may've helped make his rivalry with hyper-man John McEnroe so much fun to watch.

My choice: Barry Sanders. I like to think, one small reason he retired when still at the top of his game was to let Walter Payton stay on top of the all-time yardage-leader list. He'd deny it, of course, but that's the kind of man he seems to be. I wish some other stars would've done the same, i.e., retire earlier than they did. Not Borg, though. What'd we get after him, Boris Becker? Terrific.

QUOTE(#2):

Originally posted 09:24 PM ET  08.24 by Steven Keys

Bjorn is a good one, DMT. He had a lock on Wimbledon & the French. What a cool customer, which may've helped make his rivalry with hyper-man John McEnroe so much fun to watch.My choice: Barry Sanders. I like to think, one small reason he retired when still at the top of his game was to let Walter Payton stay on top of the all-time yardage-leader list. He'd deny it, of course, but that's the kind of man he seems to be. I wish some other stars would've done the same, i.e., retire earlier than they did. Not Borg, though. What'd we get after him, Boris Becker? Terrific.

Excellent pick Mr. Keys (Big F1 fan here myself), I shall scout for the video portion of your choice in one momento.....

P.S. I started following Becker's carrer when he turned 17, and then when he won Wimbledon at the same age. He looked like the next big thing, but another guy by the name of Sampras showed up and spoiled his career.

Here's an interesting list by the "Monopoly" of sports...ESPN:

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3396415

I have two names that popped into my mind imediately.

1. Micheal Jordon. Remember he retired several times. He won his first 3 NBA championships (back-to back- to back), then retirement #1. He went and tried baseball for two years. What if he stayed in the NBA for those two years? Then he came back to the NBA and won 3 more NBA championships (again back-to back-to back). After that came retirement #2. It not time for him to retire then.

2. Mickey Mantle. He IS a hall of famer, but could not stay healthy. What if he played a couple of seasons without getting hurt.

QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 12:19 AM ET  08.26 by KC Rohn

I have two names that popped into my mind imediately. 1. Micheal Jordon. Remember he retired several times. He won his first 3 NBA championships (back-to back- to back), then retirement #1. He went and tried baseball for two years. What if he stayed in the NBA for those two years? Then he came back to the NBA and won 3 more NBA championships (again back-to back-to back). After that came retirement #2. It not time for him to retire then. 2. Mickey Mantle. He IS a hall of famer, but could not stay healthy. What if he played a couple of seasons without getting hurt.

I thought of Mantle myself. He was an alcoholic, and had bad knees. I've read that if he had stayed healthy as athletes do today, he might have been the greatest player of all time.

I finally found one football player that I think retired too early. Mark Gastineau. He still had fuel in the tank but announced his retirement on October 20, 1988 citing that girlfriend Brigitte Nielsen, whom he left Lisa Gastineau for, was suffering from cancer. Much later, he admitted he had twice tested for steroids and was afraid of the bad publicity from a third positive test. I have no idea what he's doing now as any info found on Google ends in 2001.