Examining Aaron Donald’s Return, Along With Seven Other Legends After Unretiring

After a summer of buzz, Aaron Donald finally made his return official, deciding to come out of retirement to play for the Rams in 2026.

Donald, a Super Bowl champion and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, decided to retire after the 2023 season at the age of 32 after no longer feeling the “passion to play.” The future Hall of Famer was playing at a high level when he hung it up, but was satisfied with his career to walk away.

With the Rams establishing themselves as the obvious Super Bowl favorites and then trading for Myles Garrett, Donald chose to team up with another legendary defensive lineman. The question now is how well can he play after taking two years away from football and returning to the game at 35.

When it comes to maintaining his physical shape, Donald is in a class of his own. There’s a reason Jared Verse, a 25-year-old edge rusher in his prime, “learned his lesson” after doing Donald’s “old man retirement workout” with him. There is, however, a major difference between being in shape and being ready to play professional football at the highest level—especially since Donald did not join the Rams until after training camp.

As Donald prepares to make his return, here’s a look at how several other legends have done in their first season after coming out of retirement. This list examines players who missed at least one full season, not players such as Brett Favre or Tom Brady, who decided to come back before missing any time.

Philip Rivers (2025)

Stats: 58-of-92 (63%), 544 yards, four touchdowns, three interceptions, 80.2 passer rating (three games)

Philip Rivers and the Colts shocked the NFL when the 44-year-old quarterback and grandpa came out of retirement for the final four games of the 2025 season, nearly five years after he retired. The Colts turned to Rivers after Daniel Jones tore his Achilles, hoping to make the playoffs still. Rivers proved he could still run an offense expertly, and while he nearly upset the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks, he wasn't the same player he was before retiring and couldn't help the Colts earn a win or playoff berth.

Rob Gronkowski (2020–21)

Stats: 45 catches, 623 yards and seven touchdowns (16 games)

Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement in 2020 to join Tom Brady on the Buccaneers. Like Donald, Gronkowski retired while he was still playing at a high level. Gronkowski returned at 31, and played two more seasons for the Buccaneers, recording a combined 100 receptions for 1,425 yards and 13 touchdowns while playing 75–76% of the offensive snaps over those two seasons in Tampa.

It took some time for Gronkowski to get going and reach the end zone again in his first season back in 2020. He made his first significant splash of the season in Week 6 against the Packers, catching five passes for 78 yards and an incredible toe-tapping touchdown by the sideline. The highlight of his tenure as a Buccaneer, of course, came when he helped the franchise win its second Super Bowl, catching six passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns to take down the Chiefs.

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Jason Witten (2019–20)

Stats: 63 receptions, 529 yards, four touchdowns (16 games)

After retiring and joining the Monday Night Football crew for the 2018 campaign, Jason Witten decided to return to the playing field in 2019 at the age of 37. He came back to the Cowboys and finished fourth on the team in receiving yards while playing 75% of the snaps as Dallas finished 8–8. It wasn’t too far off from his final few seasons before his first retirement, when he was also putting up around 500–700 yards per year.

Witten returned for the 2020 season with the Raiders, where he saw a reduced role. He started only seven of 16 games and caught 13 passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns before retiring for good.

Marshawn Lynch (2017–19)

Stats: 207 carries, 891 rushing yards and seven touchdowns (4.3 ypc) (15 games)

After retiring for the 2016 season, Marshawn Lynch decided to come back to play for his hometown Oakland Raiders in 2017. The Raiders were coming off their first playoff appearance in 14 years, and while Lynch put in a solid season at 31 for the Silver & Black, they did not return to the playoffs in 2017.

Still, Lynch got good reviews from his new teammates after his first game back, with Derek Carr saying, via the Anchorage Daily News, “We got to see that Marshawn is Marshawn. He’s running through people, and he’s going to make it a pain on them to tackle him.”

Lynch would go on to spend the 2018 season with the Raiders, recording 376 yards and three touchdowns over six games before suffering a season-ending injury. He retired after the 2018 campaign, but returned to play for the Seahawks during the regular-season finale and playoffs when they dealt with a slew of running back injuries. He finally retired for good after the 2019 campaign.

Deion Sanders (2004–05)

Stats: eight total tackles, three interceptions, five pass breakups (nine games)

“Primetime” spent three years in retirement before returning to play for the Baltimore Ravens in 2004 and 2005. In his first season back at the age of 37, Sanders appeared in nine games, starting two of them, and recorded three interceptions and five pass breakups.

Sanders looked like his old self in Week 6 of his first season back when he intercepted two passes and recorded his three interceptions in two weeks.

“They talked about me before I came. He’s too old. He shouldn’t be doing this,” Sanders said at the time, via The Free Lance-Star. “I’m a 37-year-old kid out there.”

Those two weeks were the highlight of Sanders’s return for the 2004 season, which also saw him be ruled inactive in seven games. He opted to play another season in 2005, appearing in all 16 games while starting four.

Sanders can relate to Donald as a defensive player returning after multiple seasons in retirement, though it is typically more difficult at cornerback, a position that greatly relies on speed.

Randall Cunningham (1997–2001)

Stats: 44–88 (50%), 501 yards, six touchdowns, four interceptions, 71.3 passer rating (six games)

Randall Cunningham is the gold standard for coming back from retirement—just not in his first season back. After retiring for the 1996 season, Cunningham came out to play for Dennis Green and the Vikings at the age of 34. He appeared in six games and started three during 1997, but put together the best season of his career in 1998. During that 1998 campaign, Cunningham threw for 3,704 yards, a career-high 34 touchdowns and 10 picks over 15 games as the Vikings went 14–2. Despite being arguably the best team in the league, they came a missed field goal away from reaching the Super Bowl.

In 1997, Cunningham cited increased maturity and patience for his changed view on the game, noting via the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that he was “mentally beat up” when he first retired after 11 seasons with the Eagles.

Cunningham’s success through his first two seasons back—and especially 1998—did not last. He was benched in 1999 and was primarily a backup for the Cowboys and Ravens in his final two seasons (2000–01).

Bronko Nagurski (1943)

A historical throwback, Bears fullback Bronko Nagurski came out of retirement for a different reason than most of his peers—to help Chicago after they lost several players who went to serve in World War II. Nagurski originally played for the Bears from 1930–37, but came back for the 1943 campaign and played tackle while helping the team win a championship. He did occasionally reappear at fullback during the season, even rushing for a three-yard touchdown in the title victory.

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