(Favre at his retirement press conference. Photo by Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images)

There have been many athletes who came back after announcing their retirement. What makes Brett Favre's volte-face so infamous is that he didn't even sit out a year; only a few months after his ultimatum, he was filing for reinstatement.

On March 4th, 2008, Favre gave word of his retirement to ESPN's Chris Mortensen in the form of a voice mail. "I know I can still play," he said, "but it’s like I told my wife, I’m just tired mentally. I’m just tired. I know it shouldn’t feel unsuccessful, but the only way to come back and make that be the right decision would be to come back and win a Super Bowl. And honestly, the odds of that, they’re tough."

Brett's decision was a considerable surprise to most -- for years, he had waffled between retiring and staying on as the Packers' quarterback. Favre had weak years in 2005 and 2006, throwing 47 interceptions between them, but still chose to stick around. In 2007, with a healthy receiving unit and a solid running back in Ryan Grant, Favre had one of the best seasons of his career. He toned down on the interception-prone longballs he was known for and relied on a more succinct offense. That year, the Packers finished 13-3 and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game.

But in that game, Favre had a poor second half and threw an interception in overtime that led to the Packers' defeat. Even though Favre was a 38 year-old veteran, the sub-par way he went out and his rejuvenation on the football field led many to believe he'd join the Packers for a 17th season.

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(Wilt Chamberlain famously hold up No. 100. Photo by Paul Vathis, AP Photos)

In front of a half-filled arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Wilt Chamberlain put on the greatest single-game display in the history of sports: scoring 100 total points.

Back in the early 60's, NBA teams barnstormed from town to town because the young league was struggling to find its niche. Only 4,124 people were in attendance to see the "home" Philadelphia Warriors take on the Knicks. There were no television cameras, no major sports journalists, only a few photographers, and one man (Bill Campbell) calling the radio play-by-play.

"The Big Dipper" attempted 63 shots and made 36 of them, scored 61 in the second half including 31 in the 4th quarter, and also pulled down 25 rebounds. He even made 28 of his 32 free throws despite being one of the five worst foul shooters in league history.

"Once we were far ahead, the Knicks disregarded trying to win the game and concentrated on stopping me," Chamberlain said. "If they hadn't just tried to stop me without regard to whether they would win or not, I could have scored a lot more."

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(What was left of the Bartman ball, post-electrocution)

In Game 6 of the NLCS, the Chicago Cubs were five outs away from ending almost a century worth of misery. A fly ball into the left field stands was within Moises Alou’s grasp and was going to bring Chicago within 12 strikes of advancing to the World Series. But then… Steve Bartman interfered. Donning a swastika and a Snidely Whiplash mustache, the evildoer shoved several infants out of the way as he made his way towards the ball. With Alou’s glove extended, the felon brandished his dagger and hacked off Alou’s arm, glove and all, causing the ball to drop. With his task complete, Bartman jumped over the left-field wall and into his 1920 coal-powered engine, where he headed back to his evil lair.

The Cubs then proceeded to blow the lead, and the rest is history. Okay that first paragraph was exaggerated, but the rest is true.

A few months later, restaurant owner Grant DePorter bought the ball for $113,824.16 in an auction from the man who gathered it after it fell into the stands. DePorter purchased it on behalf of the Harry Caray Restaurant for whom he is the manager. The ball was on display for a few weeks before DePorter realized what had to be done; the only way the Cubs were ever going to win again was if the Bartman ball was destroyed. The ball was obviously a symbol of the Billy Goat Curse that had kept the Cubs from the World Series for almost 60 years.

"It's like the ring from The Lord of the Rings and we’re kind of like Frodo, trying to get it over with," DePorter said.

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In his first day as the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, billionaire oilman Jerry Jones announced that he had fired head coach Tom Landry. University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson, who played with Jones at Arkansas, was announced as his replacement.

The sacking of a legend like Landry was giant news throughout the state of Texas. He had been the Cowboys' coach for 29 years, their only coach in franchise history. With him at the helm, the Cowboys won two Super Bowls, 13 division championships, and posted a winning record in twenty consecutive seasons. Landry, with his trademark fedora and suit, was a driving force behind Texas' fanaticism with professional football.

As the 80's dragged on, Landry's position with the team seemed to be in doubt. After making the postseason in 1985, the Cowboys posted three consecutive losing seasons, including a 3-13 disaster in 1988. Many believed Landry was losing his touch and with the team's owner, H.R. (Bum) Bright, set to sell the team, the Landry era appeared to be at an end.

''I'll step down when I feel like I'm ready, when I can't do the job I want to do,'' Landry said in November 1988. ''It could be any time, or it could be a while.''

Less than two weeks before Bright sold the team, Landry fired the team's defensive and pass coordinators and showed no signs of relenting control. "I have no intention of retiring unless it is forced upon me,'' he said.

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(Chaney draws up the gameplan for Ingram. Photo courtesy of dragonballyee)

John Chaney had an outstanding career coaching the Temple Owls. In his 33 years as a college basketball coach, Chaney racked up 741 wins and earned a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame. He preached discipline and ethics, and cleanly recruited his athletes. He demanded 6 A.M. workouts so his players wouldn't miss classes. He built Temple's athletic program and was a pioneer in African American coaching.

Chaney's bane was that he was at times too emotional, and it often led to embarrassing outbursts. In 1984, he scuffled with George Washington coach Gerry Gimelstob and had be removed after clenching his hands around his neck. A decade later, he threatened to kill John Calipari at a post-game press conference. And in 2005, he was the catalyst to a final incident that eventually led to his ousting at Temple University, one that desecrated his prior teachings of morals and integrity.

The Owls were playing at home against St. Joseph's University. Chaney was steamed that the officials weren't calling "illegal screens" on any of St. Joe's players. In retaliation, Chaney sent 6'8'', 250-pound Nehemiah Ingram into the game to foul. Ingram was not a regular performer; the most he had played in a game was 10 minutes and he hadn't played in the last five games.

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(John Calipari and John Chaney. Photo courtesy of AP Photos)

Emotions were running high between Atlantic-10 powers Massachusetts and Temple. UMass squeaked away with a 56-55 win, though head coach John Calipari was hardly jovial in victory. Before leaving the floor, Calipari complained to the three refs about the officiating. Temple coach John Chaney was witness to this, though it didn't appear that he thought much of it. Chaney was calm and collective at the post-game press conference and walked away from the podium without a shred of combativeness.

But when Calipari stepped to the microphone a few minutes later, Chaney returned and engaged with him at the opposite end of the media room.

"Can I please say something? Coach, you don't say [expletive] to officials without me being involved in it. I'm not going to be a party to that. Against George Washington you won with three [expletive] calls down the stretch. You had the best guys out there today. Three class guys."

"You weren't out there coach," responded Calipari. "You don't know a thing about it."

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(Favre in a game in Miami. Photo by Marc Serota, Getty Images)

Brett Favre announces his retirement from the NFL... for the second time. The longtime Packers quarterback had retired eleven months earlier, only to change his mind, un-retire, and negotiate his way onto the roster of the New York Jets. Favre was initially great with Jets and led the AFC in touchdowns and passing yards in the early part of the year. But he developed a bad shoulder late in the season and played poorly down the stretch; the team finished 9-7, losing four of their final five games, and missed the postseason in 2008.

There were questions as to whether or not Favre would return, as he still had a final year on his contract. In offseasons past, he had waffled back and forth between hanging it up and playing for another season, and in the year before, the drama between him and the Green Bay Packers escalated to the point of hysteria. But Favre insisted that this time it was for real, that this time his career had come to a close.

"Emotionally I'm okay with it," Favre said in a press conference. "I really felt like it was time. Obviously circumstances last year were a lot different. Physically, if I felt better, we might not be having this conversation. But I think that is, more than anything, the writing on the wall... It all comes down to physically how I feel. Once again, that could change based on arthroscopic surgery or whatever. But I'm not willing to do that and I'm not willing to take that chance. And that, more than anything, is why I'm retiring."

While Favre sounded genuine in his desire to wrap it up, many sports writers were doubtful that he was done for good. He had shaken off thoughts of retirement for so many years, and had even done an about-face on his tearful goodbye a year ago; as one of the most competitive athletes to ever play the sport, it was hard to rule out the possibility of another comeback.

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(Al Michaels and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Photo courtesy of Inhistoric)

For 36 years, ABC showcased Monday Night Football and was considered the most esteemed NFL carrier, in thanks to broadcast icons like Howard Cosell and Keith Jackson. But the ratings had fallen dramatically over the years, and with a contract in place that payed the NFL roughly a billion dollars a year, that simply wasn't acceptable for ABC.

So following the Steelers victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, ABC ended its long-running partnership with the NFL. Monday Night Football would move to ESPN, where it had a greater chance of banking revenue, while NBC would assume ESPN's old Sunday Night Football slot.

It was initially thought that John Madden and Al Michaels, the present Monday Night Football tandem, would join the broadcast's migration to ESPN. But Madden bolted to NBC right before the Super Bowl, leaving Michaels, who only did football games and was not a fan of ESPN, to ponder his future.

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