Sports Illustrated - USA (2022-05)

T

COMEBACK KID

PHOTOGRAPH BY NEIL LEIFER

OM BRADY’S unretirement

was surprising (if only

for the fact that it came

just 40 days after his farewell

announcement), but it was hardly

unprecedented. Michael Jordan,

Brett Favre and Mario Lemieux all

returned after walking away, but few

did it better than Gordie Howe.

Like Brady, Howe was still going

strong when he retired in his early

40s. (Howe was 43 when he called it

a career in 1971; Brady was 44 when

he brief ly left the Bucs.) Howe had

scored a career-best 103 points two

years earlier and had 52 points in

63 games in ’70–71, his 25th and

final season with the Red Wings.

Unlike Brady, Howe actually stayed

retired long enough to miss games.

He returned to play alongside his

sons Mark and Marty for the WHA’s

Houston Aeros in 1973. And even

more unlike Brady, his longevity

wasn’t due to ascetic eating habits.

As Howe’s wife, Colleen, noted in

our March 11, 1974, issue (which

featured the above image of Howe on

the cover): “Gordie’s big on cottage

cheese, fruit salad, ground round,

Jell-O, hot and cold cereals and ice

cream.” (Presumably not avocado.)

Howe pointed out, “You can

be sure that I don’t neglect the

ice cream, and of course nothing

tastes better than a few nectars of

the gods after a game.” The diet

worked: Howe was the WHA MVP,

and he played six more seasons

before retiring in 1980 at age 52.

He didn’t stay retired then, either.

Howe would return once again for

one shift with the minor league

Detroit Vipers in ’97—extending his

pro career to six decades.

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