Ranking the NFL's greatest farewell seasons as Aaron Rodgers looks to join an iconic list
While the end of most playing careers is often sudden and surprising, there have been several instances where the end was either already announced or generally assumed. Aaron Rodgers put himself in the former category when he announced that the 2026 season will indeed be his last . Rodgers has firsthand experience watching legendary quarterbacks end their careers. A 49ers fan growing up, Rodgers saw Joe Montana cap off his career with the Kansas City Chiefs following a legendary run in San Francisco. Five years later, Steve Young, Montana's successor in San Francisco, saw his career end abruptly when he was blindsided by a defender. In 2010, Rodgers then helped send Brett Favre into retirement by leading the Packers to a season sweep of the Vikings , his predecessor's fourth and final team. This season, Rodgers will look to earn a spot on the following list ranking the best farewell seasons of the Super Bowl era. Roethlisberger's 2021 season became an extended goodbye after reports surfaced before Week 13 that the Steelers ' longtime quarterback was entering the final stretch of his career. At that point, it was generally assumed that Big Ben was no longer in Pittsburgh's long-term plans amid the team's recent personnel and roster changes. Roethlisberger's final season was a roller coaster. After a 1-3 start, the Steelers rallied to finish with a 9-7-1 record. Pittsburgh earned the AFC's final playoff spot after Roethlisberger led a game-winning drive against the rival Ravens in Baltimore. The Chiefs quickly ousted the Steelers from the playoffs, though, with Roethlisberger throwing for 215 yards and two touchdowns in his final game. During his final season, Roethlisberger led the Steelers to season sweeps of divisional foes Baltimore and Cleveland. He remains the last starting quarterback to lead Pittsburgh to a win over the Browns in Cleveland. Fittingly, his last home game was a win against the Browns, one of the teams that passed on him in the 2004 NFL Draft . Throughout that game, Roethlisberger received cheers from Steelers fans who expressed their gratitude for his 18 seasons in the black and gold. Brady briefly retired that offseason before deciding to play a 23rd and final season. Brady, 45 at the time, was coming off a brilliant 2021 season that saw him lead the NFL in pass attempts, completions, passing yards and touchdown passes. The general consensus was that the 2022 season would be Brady's last. Simply put, the 2022 season didn't go as planned for Brady and the Bucs, who won the NFC South despite posting a losing record. It was the first and only time a Brady-led team finished below .500. Brady completed just 53% of his passes in his final game, a 31-14 loss to the Cowboys in the NFC wild card round. While the season was largely a disappointment, Brady still put up impressive numbers, throwing for 4,694 yards and 25 touchdowns against nine interceptions while completing 66.8% of his passes. Allen, who had announced during the offseason that the 1997 season would be his last, ran for 11 touchdowns during the final season of his Hall of Fame career. He also threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a game-winner against the Steelers on "Monday Night Football." Allen's play helped the Chiefs win the AFC West for the second time in three years. In the playoffs, however, Allen and the Chiefs were upset by the eventual Super Bowl champion Broncos . Ironically, Allen's counterpart that day, Terrell Davis, had attended the same San Diego-area high school as Allen roughly a decade earlier. Three weeks after Denver's 14-10 upset win at Arrowhead Stadium, Davis led the Broncos to the AFC's first Super Bowl win since Allen's Raiders defeated Washington in the big game 14 years earlier. The first defensive player to win league MVP, Page was released by the Vikings after failing to record a sack during the first games of the 1978 season. The 33-year-old Page was quickly claimed off waivers by the Bears and collec [... truncated ...]
