What pro athletes have done best/worst after retirement?

If the pool is open to all athletes, George Weah ought to be among the first mentioned.

Peter Thiel

Yeah, those lists are always flawed. Yes, Tiriac is f'in loaded. At one point he was the richest person in Romania. Even richer than those Romanian cam models...

Probably the pro who did the best and the worst post-retirement was a famous football player who post-retirement, did movies, TV commenting, endorsed national brands, had good looks, charm, everything... it all changed when he was charged for the murder of his wife. O.J. Simpson. Although acquitted, it all spiraled downward from there.

Arnold Schwarznegger did OK for himself

Sort of off the topic, but why do college runners stop competing? Maybe many don't? But why don't the BroJo's compete in races anymore? Is it burn out? Or just the reality of not being able to run as fast as they once did? I always ran with an adult track club with track workouts and long runs together - and competed in road races and marathons into my late 50's. I'd win my age group from time to time. No big deal but I really enjoyed it. I loved competing and being in shape, but most of all just love the feeling from running and hard workouts. Why give it up?

CarlyRaeJepsensMalort wrote:

best - depends how you define it, but i'd put in another vote for pukin' bob kempainen. he won the olympic marathon trials as a medical resident and now he's a well respected cardiologist or internal medicine guy in the twin cities. not too flashy, but definitely a good standard of living. unless he's totally squandered his earnings both from running and doctoring, the dude could probably retire any time he wants. that's a good spot to be in.

Kempainen is a pulmonologist.

Jim Ryun was and is my hero. But his politics stink to high heaven. Still, I love the man.

Magic Johnson being successful.

Byron White was runner-up for the Heisman and played a few years in the NFL. Rhodes Scholarship and a seat on the US Supreme Court. Not too shabby.

Big George Foreman has to be up there.

If you count his 'retirement' at age 28...

he announced his comeback at age 38 and about 100lbs over his prime fighting weight. He had not put on a pair of boxing gloves for 10 years. This was still a time when athletes in their late 20's were seen as over the hill (it was a huge upset when 'old' 32 year old Ali had beaten the younger Foreman in 1974).

After several years fighting his way back into shape and becomign a contender again, to the astonishment of the boxing community, he went the distance with the world champion Evander Holyfield. Then at the age of 45, he knocked out Michael Moorer, who was unbeaten and had just knocked out Holyfield to become world champion. Thus Foreman became world champion again 20 years after the first time, and after 10 years of retirement.

He continued to fight on until age 49. In his last fight, he was (by all agreement) robbed by a clear and dominating victory over a man 25 years young (Shannon Briggs) by a rigged decision.

He would likely have remained a contender for years to come, but by that point he had agreed to endorese a grill making company (after Hulk Hogan had turned it down). The girll quickly became a massive success and Foreman never needed to step into the ring again. He has earned an estimated $200 million + from the George Foreman grill.

You also have to compare how well Foreman has done to other boxers after retirement, especially heavyweight boxers, most of whom end up broke, dead, or brain damaged within a decade or two.

Joan Benoit Samuelson?

Totally agree. Those of us who loved running did keep going. (Female 68+ here) Had to run with the men pre title 9. Another athlete who has done super well financially through her career is Joan B.S. She has been receiving huge appearance money while competing and Nike has pretty much given her a golden credit card for life. Those Olympic Golds bring benefits that don't come a "Paychecks." Just seats on Boards and an "allowance" for wearing the Sponsor's clothes and speaking at big races. Betting she is worth more than the stud runners who became MDs. In spite of his current problems, also would guess Salazar is worth a fortune too.

FloJo for worst.