Triviality No. 26
5 great athletes who retired relatively early like Justine Henin
Tiki Barber
The Giants’ all-time leading rusher, Barber retired after the 2006 season at age 31. Despite running for 234 yards in his final regular-season game, the running back opted to pursue his television interests rather than play out the rest of his prime as the Giants’ featured rusher.
Sandy Koufax
When the Dodgers lefty retired at age 30 in 1966, he was riding a five-year stretch as perhaps the most dominating pitcher in the game's history. He won 25 games three times and pitched four no-hitters and a perfect game. He did this despite arthritis in his left elbow that made pitching agonizing and helped him decide to retire on top of the game.
Mario Lemiuex
The Pittsburgh Penguins center won three league MVPs despite playing injuries and, in 1993, a bout with Hodgkin's lymphoma, before he retired in 1997 at age 31. Already a Hall of Famer and principal owner of the team, Lemieux returned in 2000-01 and played in parts of the next five seasons before retiring again in 2006.
Byron Nelson
In 1945, Nelson set records that last to this day by winning 18 tournaments, including 11 in a row. The following year, 1946, he retired to his Texas ranch at age 34. He later became a golf commentator and teacher. He died in 2006 at age 94.
Barry Sanders
Like Jim Brown before him, the Detroit Lions running back retired after 10 seasons, still in his prime at age 30. With 15,269 career yards — near Walter Payton’s then-record 16,726 yards — Sanders might put several rushing records nearly out of reach with two more seasons. Instead, he retired before his body took any more pounding.
— Max Dickstein