Who had the best season before retirement?

[SWC75]

Some nominees. Feel free to nominate others and comment on each:

Tom Brady: Tom Brady Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Jim Brown: Jim Brown Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Barry Sanders: Barry Sanders Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Megatron: Calvin Johnson Stats | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Sandy Koufax: Sandy Koufax Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

David Ortiz: David Ortiz Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

Ted Williams: Ted Williams Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

Kobe Bryant, who had the best final game: Kobe Bryant Stats | Basketball-Reference.com

Bill Russell: Bill Russell Stats | Basketball-Reference.com v

I'm not a hockey guy but checked the big names and came up empty.

But, including individual sports, how about these guys?:

Michael Phelps: Michael Phelps - Wikipedia

Bobby Jones: Bobby Jones (golfer) - Wikipedia

 

[br801]

Sandy Koufax and Jim Brown

 

[Cusefan0307]

I know he missed some games, but John Elway deserves to at least be on this list.

 

[JustPherU]

Does Jim Boeheim winning the National Championship in 2022 and then stepping down count?

 

[SWC75]

I know he missed some games, but John Elway deserves to at least be on this list.

John Elway Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Checkout the latest stats for John Elway. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, college, draft, and more on Pro-football-reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

 

[JAXCUSE]

Boxing isn’t a team sport and the only stat that matters is W’s and Championships….
But Marciano, Mayweather and Andre Ward all retired undefeated and undisputed in their weight categories.
Considered “the best” in the sport when they walked away (similar, but not exact, to Brady/Phelps/Brown/Koufax‘s last year in that respect).
That’s a pretty good “season” before hanging it up too….

 

[IthacaMatt]

I know he missed some games, but John Elway deserves to at least be on this list.

Didn't Denver mostly rely on that monster running back they had to win his last Super Bowl or two?

 

[SWC75]

Didn't Denver mostly rely on that monster running back they had to win his last Super Bowl or two?

Elway and Terrell Davis were a good 1-2 punch.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Didn't Denver mostly rely on that monster running back they had to win his last Super Bowl or two?

He was the MVP of his last SB and his stats the last two years were really good for the 90’s.