Where Does Silva's Early Retirement Rank?

Yahoo reported today that Anderson Silva has said that he plans to retire within the year. This would be a huge blow to the UFC and a major shock to the MMA world. So it got me to thinking about the most suprising athlete early retirements and where Silva would rank. And yes I am aware that there are tons more than have made my list so feel free to share yours.

5. Ricky Williams-Ricky is back now but when he suddenly quit the Dolphins to be a full time pothead I don't know many who weren't shocked.

4. Vince Young-Obviously he hasn't retired but we have all heard the talk about him quitting after his latest meltdown. We also heard talk about it after his rookie year as well. Vince is apparently fragile but considering how amazing he was in college his potential retirement is still pretty shocking.

3. Anderson Silva-He is the best the UFC has to offer and while suprising it is understandable given his bad knees and the potential he has to earn tons of money now that he has joined Golden Boy.

2. Barry Sanders-Would be number 1 on the list but it was pretty well known how unhappy Barryhad gotten with the Lions. What was more suprising is that he never came back with another team.

1. Jim Brown-The only runningback that you can argue was better than Barry. Brown quit after 9 seasons when Art Modell told him to stop working on The Dirty Dozen and get his ass to training camp. Brown chose to retire instead. Quitting to finish a movie gives him the top spot.

Honorable Mention: Chase Hilgenbrinck-No one has heard of this New England Revolution defender but he makes the list because he retired to enter the Mt. Saint Mary's seminary. That kind of career shift earns him a spot on the list. Makes me wonder what kind of stuff he was into.