Aaron Donald is back in the game.
Though he retired after the 2023-24 season, the allure of playing with Myles Garrett proved to be too much for the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Donald returns on a one-year, $20 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday.
Though the future Hall of Famer is the most recent prominent name to return to their sport after a notable break, he isn’t the first. Some legendary figures have made their own comebacks over the years, with some enjoying impressive career second winds as well. Here are some of the other high-profile names Donald is joining.
Michael Jordan
Likely the most famous return to a sport of all time, the simple tagline for Jordan’s 1995 comeback -- “I’m back” -- is still referenced today. The Chicago Bulls superstar had been on a yearlong sojourn in baseball after having announced his NBA retirement in October 1993, but he rejoined the Bulls in the second half of the 1994-95 season.
It didn’t take long for Jordan’s impact to be felt. In his first full season back, the Bulls returned to and won the NBA Finals, and Chicago would follow that up with two more consecutive titles in the following years for the second three-peat of Jordan’s career.
Jordan then retired again, from which he’d make another comeback three years later, playing two seasons with the Washington Wizards before his last and official retirement in 2003.
Mario Lemieux
One of the inspirations for Jordan’s second comeback was the return of his friend Lemieux several months earlier.
Lemieux announced his retirement from hockey in 1997 after eight All-Star nods and 1,494 career points under his belt, his production coming even with his 12-season career having been interrupted by a diagnosis of Hodgkin lymphoma (then known as Hodgkin’s disease) in 1993.
But Lemieux’s time away from the ice was temporary. In one of the more remarkable comebacks in sports history, he made his return to the Pittsburgh Penguins in December 2000 and proceeded to add another 229 points to his career tally over an additional six years in the league.
Martina Hingis
Hingis’ accomplished tennis career never followed a conventional path. As ESPN put it on the day of her final retirement in 2017: “The careers of most players are roughly bell shaped. Hingis’ looks like a page torn from a seismograph during a day of unusual volcanic activity.”
The description was well-earned. Hingis rose quickly early in her career, becoming a teenage Grand Slam champion in both singles and doubles competition. She earned the No. 1 world ranking in a brilliant 1997 that saw her win at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. But in 2003, at just 22 years old, Hingis announced her retirement, hampered by injuries.
She came back in 2005, before leaving the game again in 2007 amid a suspension ... and then returning again in 2013, when she put together an accomplished doubles run for a successful late career arc before her final retirement in 2017.
Simone Biles
A chaotic time at 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan saw Biles remove herself from multiple events to focus on her mental health. It preceded a longer break from competition for the gymnast, who eventually made a comeback in 2023 ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.
Biles indeed starred in Paris in her return to the Olympic spotlight, leaving France with three gold medals and a silver.
Michael Phelps
Phelps took home an impressive haul from the 2012 London Olympics -- four gold medals and two silvers -- adding to an already stuffed medal cabinet. He then proceeded to announce his retirement from swimming ... but in 2014, he dove back into the pool.
Unsurprisingly, the legendary swimmer was in top gear by the time the 2016 Rio Games rolled around, his fifth Olympics. Phelps added five gold medals and one silver to his ledger in Brazil, capping off his career by helping the United States 4x100-meter medley relay set an Olympic record for his 23rd and final gold -- also an Olympic record.
Lindsey Vonn
Vonn already boasted an impressive Olympic skiing résumé when she opted to come out of retirement at age 40 in 2024 to push for one more Games. She was a three-time medalist and had competed in four Olympics, but a litany of injuries and extended time away from competition didn’t slow her down. She was named to Team USA’s roster for the 2026 Olympics in Italy.
And though Vonn’s Games ended in heartbreak when she sustained a frightening injury after a crash in the women’s downhill event, her comeback story might not be done yet. In early May, she was nominated to the U.S. Alpine ski team for the upcoming season.
George Foreman
There was quite a gap between Foreman’s stints as a boxer -- he first stepped away from the ring at age 28, before returning a decade later ... and remaining in form.
Seven years into his second career act, Foreman would eventually become the oldest man to hold the title of heavyweight world champion. He was 45 years and 299 days old when he knocked out Michael Moorer to accomplish the feat.
Foreman’s illustrious career didn’t conclude until he was 48 years old.
Dara Torres
Another multicomeback master, Torres’ five Olympic appearances in swimming didn’t come simply.
Her first three Games were straightforward -- her debut in 1984, followed by successive qualifications for 1988 and 1992. Then came a seven-year hiatus, from which Torres returned to compete at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where she won five swimming medals.
Another break then followed. But after another impressive comeback, Torres, 41 at the time, collected three more medals at the 2008 Beijing Games -- and afterward nearly qualified for the 2012 Games as well.
Ryne Sandberg
Sandberg minced no words when he announced his retirement from baseball midway through the 1994 season: “I am certainly not the type [of] person who can ask the Cubs organization and Chicago Cubs fans to pay my salary when I am not happy with my mental approach and my performance.”
But Sandberg’s retirement wasn’t the end of his story at Wrigley Field. He returned to the Chicago roster after a year-and-a-half hiatus ahead of the 1996 season. The time off seemed to do the Cubs’ legend good -- the 25 home runs he hit in his return to the diamond were his most since 1992, and his 92 RBIs were his most since 1991.
Sandberg would retire for good at the conclusion of the 1997 season.
Serena Williams
After nearly three years of not competing professionally, the tennis legend made her return in a doubles event at the 2026 HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club in London. She competed alongside Victoria Mboko, advancing to the quarterfinals. She also competed in doubles at the 2026 Berlin Tennis Open with Karolina Muchova, where the pair were defeated in the first round.
Williams partnered with her sister Venus Williams in the doubles event at the 2026 Wimbledon championships, and faced Maya Joint in singles. She lost to Joint 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6 and was forced to withdraw from her doubles match because of a knee injury. The sisters plan to partner again at the 2026 Cincinnati Open, and her coach Rennae Stubbs said Williams plans too compete in the 2026 US Open as well.
