Top 5 emotional and memorable retirement speeches in sports world (UPDATED)

We discover some people and then we start following them as our idols because at some level, we admire what they do and want to become like them. May it be sports, music , media, or anything else…fandom are everywhere. and saying goodbye to that one person you idolized for decades is tough thing to do.This is what makes retirement speeches and farewells so nostalgic and full of emotions. Many of the sport-enthusiasts would have the ‘memorable retirement speeches in sports world’, still fresh in the mind.

Given here are the top 5 athletes and their quotes from their actual retirement speeches . Read on to find more .

 Top 5 Memorable retirement speeches in sports world

Brett Favre

It was one of the most emotional Retirement speeches in the history of sports. Brett Favre is one of the most renowned and reputed sportsman the humanity has seen. And seeing him leave his field of interest after such a long time was tough for his fans as well as the player himself. To quote him, “It’s over. As hard as it is for me to say, it’s over.”

And with all the tears and the memories of his achievements, he continued “I will wonder if I made the wrong decision. I’m sure on Sundays I will say I could be doing that. I should be doing that.”This was one favorite sportsmen retirement speech.

Before leaving he added “I’ve given everything I can possibly give to this organization and the game of football, and I don’t think I have anything left to give.”

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Sachin Tendulkar

Known as the  god of Indian cricket .people all over the world, worship this man because of his innumerable spirit and talent.in his retirement speech he mentioned ‘’In the last 24 years that I have played for India I have made new friends, and before that I have had friends from my childhood. ’’ His speech left millions of fans in tears and was probably one of the most memorable retirement speeches in sports world.

Before ending his speech he said ’’ I know my speech has become long. I want to thank people who have flown in from different parts of the world. I want to thank my fans from the bottom of my heart. ‘Sachin, Sachin’ will reverberate in my ears till I stop breathing.’’

Millions of fans tuned in just to listen to this emotional speech by sportsman the day it was aired worldwide. He was loved and cherished by his fandom worldwide and he continues to be everyone’s favorite till date.

 Lou Gehrig

On July 4, 1939, this six time World Series champion retired. In his memory, this day was deemed Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day. The reason for his retirement was not his age but a disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis .his retirement left his fans devastated and this is what he had to say on his retirement day “Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. ‘’ this speech fits perfect when we talk about memorable retirement speeches in sports world.

He added ‘’I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans… So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.”

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Michael Clarke

Michael Clarke gifted us with one of the most heart touching and memorable retirement speeches in sports world When asked about his retirement he said ‘’I think it’s the right time. Unfortunately I haven’t played as well as I would like and I think it’s the right thing and the right time to walk away now to give United the Australian team in the next captain a chance to prepare for the next it’s a long time memories as an Australian player and captain. ‘’ This was one of the most touching and emotional goodbyes sports world has ever seen. Michael Clarke was a hero to his fans all around the world and he still is.

This former Australian sport star  became nostalgic and mentioned ‘’I am very lucky to play over 200 Test matches my country I  certainly didn’t expect that as a young boy having a dream to play cricket for Australia .

Wayne Gretzky

He is one of the best  Canadian national hockey players in the sports history  , in his memorable speech he mentioned ”It’s tough, it’s hard, it’s going to be a big change for me, but a challenge and change that I look forward to in the future.’’

”We’re human, we bring it home, we’re highly emotional athletes. We’re all lucky we have good people behind us and I know I have a great wife. She’s there through thick and thin. I think we’re both at peace of mind today. He said as he thanked his wife for her support.

And ending this speech he said ‘‘Today, I want to enjoy this and want to celebrate this. I just want to thank everyone who I ever played with and who was ever in an organization that I was part of, whether it is Team Canada Junior, or Team Canada, or the Olympic Team, I loved it. Thank you”.

These were the memorable retirement speeches in sports world by athletes we all love.