Athletes Who Made the Most of Their Second Chance
Earning a second chance in sports can mean a lot of things. The antiquated way of thinking says that second chances are reserved for players who have done something wrong. But that's not always the case.
You look at athletes like Peyton Manning and others who have overcome injuries and you can't help but appreciate what they've done. They prove that second chances come in all shapes and sizes.
This list breaks down a group of names who have made the most of those opportunities. From old school to new school, it's time to get this show started.
Rick Ankiel
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When Rick Ankiel was tearing through the St. Louis Cardinals farm system in the late '90s, he was considered to be one of the elite pitching prospects in the nation.
At the ripe age of 19 years old, he debuted on the mound for the Cardinals in 1999. The following year, Ankiel would strike out 194 batters on his way to an 11-win season. The stage was set for him to ascend to pitching greatness.
Then, out of what felt like the clear blue, it all came crashing down. Ankiel fell victim to an erratic throwing arm and injuries. After pitching just 10 innings in 2004, he left the game of baseball.
Three years later, Ankiel returned to professional baseball. This time, things were going to be different. Instead of hurling lasers at the backstop, he would try his hand as an outfielder.
It's astonishing to think that this guy turned his career around and became an MLB-caliber hitter. A career-high 25 home runs and 71 RBI in 2008 remains the highlight of his time as an outfielder.
Ankiel would go on to spend seven years as a hitter before retiring in 2013. Even though he'll never make the Hall of Fame, Rick Ankiel was a guy who took his second chance and ran with it. You can't ask for much more than that.
Deion Sanders
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To this day, Deion Sanders' Baltimore Ravens jersey is the greatest football jersey ever made. Sorry, but nothing comes close to it.
Sanders walked away from the chewed up gridiron in July of 2001 after Washington had inked him to a seven-year, $56 million deal the prior year. It wasn't until 2004 that we caught another glimpse of Primetime in action.
Rocking No. 37—to point out how old he was at the time—Sanders joined the Baltimore Ravens for two seasons. When he first signed with the team, he made his intentions clear: "I prepare to win, I prepare to dominate, I prepare to conquer," Sanders told the public.
Deion played in 25 games during his two seasons with the Ravens, proving that no matter how old he was, he still could contribute in a positive manner.
Mario Lemieux
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Mario Lemieux left Pittsburgh and his Penguins sweater behind in 1997.
Lemieux had beaten the odds more times than people tend to remember—his successful battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer in 1993, his lingering issues revolving around chronic back pain.
Lemieux’s body was put through the ringer and back a handful of times, yet he kept on battling.
After leaving the game in '97, Lemieux made his triumphant return in 2000. Like he did all of those years ago, the captain helped transcend the Penguins franchise once again.
This time he did so by contributing when he was healthy enough to get on the ice and, more importantly, helping mentor and ease Sidney Crosby into the league—Crosby lived in Lemieux's house until 2010.
Peyton Manning
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Perhaps no one in recent memory has enjoyed his second chance as much as Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.
Manning's 14 years with the Indianapolis Colts were historic. He led the franchise to a Super Bowl win, all while molding himself into the league's best quarterback. Dating back to the moment he was drafted, it was hard to picture Manning wearing anything else but his No. 18 blue and white jersey.
That sentiment changed after he underwent a series of neck surgeries. Without their leader, the Colts plummeted to the bottom of the AFC South that season and landed the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft.
You could sense a changing of the guard was in the air. A few months later, Peyton was out and a young kid out of Stanford named Andrew Luck was in. Manning said goodbye to his former team and made his way over to the Broncos.
All he's done since putting on a Broncos uniform is shatter all sorts of passing records and lead the Broncos to back-to-back 13-3 seasons—including one Super Bowl appearance.
We won't ever see another quarterback like Peyton Manning again. Even after neck surgery and his departure from the only place he called home, he's still out there heaving touchdown passes.
Andre Agassi
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In 1997, Andre Agassi's tennis career hit rock bottom. Ranked No. 141 in the world, his life was turned upside down by drug use—a fact he didn't reveal until his career was over.
Through all of that adversity, Agassi somehow stumbled onto a fresh path in 1998. He fought his way back into the top 10, and a year later won the French Open.
His style of play, swagger and skill set will always make him one of the most recognizable tennis players in the world. Thankfully, after a chaotic year in '97 full of lies and deceit, he got a second chance and made the best of it.
Michael Jordan
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For the sake of this slide, we're going to pretend that Michael Jordan's comeback with the Washington Wizards never happened. Are you with me? Good.
Jordan left the game of basketball in October of 1993. Upon leaving, he signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox. He spent time in the minors before returning to the Bulls in March of 1995 with a legendary press release. The release had two important words on it: "I'm back."
With Jordan on the hardwood, the Bulls went out and won three more NBA titles. Even after taking some time away from the sport, the greatest player to ever put on a pair of Tinker Hatfield-designed kicks didn't miss a beat.
Tommy John
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Nowadays when you hear the name Tommy John, your mind immediately thinks surgery. Tommy John the baseball player spent 26 seasons in the big leagues even after suffering a catastrophic elbow injury.
In 1974, when the world was focused on making their pants flare at the bottom, John underwent a revolutionary surgery to save his pitching career. Bleacher Report's Will Carroll talked about just how significant that surgery was:
"Since 1974, thousands of pitchers have had the same elbow reconstruction surgery first performed on Tommy John by Dr. Frank Jobe. Today, nearly one-third of current MLB pitchers have undergone the surgery, proving that this surgery has not only changed the game, it may have saved it.
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John missed 18 months of action before his cleats were able to touch a baseball diamond again. When he returned, he was just as effective. "He went on to have almost as many wins (164) after his surgery as he did before, playing 15 more years for the Dodgers and Yankees," Carroll notes.
To this day, John's injury, surgery and recovery remain one of the baseball's biggest stories.
Kurt Warner
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Improbable is the only way to describe Kurt Warner's football career.
Warner went from bagging groceries and playing in the Arena Football League to hoisting a Super Bowl trophy and putting together what many believe to be a Hall of Fame career in the NFL. He's one of the most inspirational rags-to-riches stories in league history.
Had it not been for then-St. Louis Rams quarterback Trent Green tearing his ACL during the 1999 season, we probably wouldn't even remember Warner's name. But like Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady's story, sometimes all you need is a chance.
His Rams legacy isn't the only thing he will be remembered for. A rough stint with the New York Giants in 2004 led Warner to the Arizona Cardinals a year later.
Things started out poorly. Warner was frequently replaced by names like Josh McCown and Matt Leinart during the quarterback carousel that went down from 2005 until the summer of 2008.
The moment he became the full-time starter again in Arizona, his career took off. His outstanding play was a major reason why the Cardinals found their way into Super Bowl XLIII against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It's tough to find anyone who had more second chances than Warner in the NFL. Part of his mystique is the way he capitalized on those opportunities.
Josh Hamilton
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Los Angeles Angels outfielder Josh Hamilton's war with addiction will forever be linked to his playing career.
Bryan Curtis of Grantland.com wrote about Hamilton when he was with the Texas Rangers. In that piece, he talked about what it took for Hamilton to find his way back to baseball:
"By now, you and I could recite the outlines of The Story: Hamilton, baseball’s no. 1 overall draft pick in 1999, falls under the sway of crack and cocaine; abandons his wife and daughters; gets clean; gets acquainted with God; and in a semi-damaged, heavily tattooed state, leads Texas to the franchise’s first two World Series appearances.
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Hamilton left Texas and signed a contract worth $125 million over a five-year span in 2012 with the Angels. His story, loaded with tragedy and triumph, financially culminated underneath California's sunny skies.
Muhammad Ali
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The man they called "The Greatest" almost had his career come to an end in 1967. That year, Muhammad Ali refused to join the U.S. Army, therefore he was stripped of his heavyweight championship and charged with draft evasion.
Ali would avoid prison time, but would be held out of the ring for three years. When he returned in 1970, he fought the likes of Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton and Floyd Patterson, giving fans some of the most awe-inspiring fights in boxing history.
All MLB, NBA, NHL, college football and NFL information and stats provided by Sports-Reference.com, unless noted otherwise.
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