Although it’s no fun for any fan to see his or her favorite sports team fall behind, a well-deserved comeback can feel more exciting than anything else in the world. Take a look at these sportspersons (in no particular order) who have never learned to give up.
Also Read: 5 of the Most Heated Rivalries in Sports History
1. The Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Western Conference Quarterfinals: In a definite American sports city with icons such as Kobe Bryant providing all the excitement that one would need, the local NHL squad has to be pretty good to stay in the spotlight. Unfortunately for the 2014 LA Kings, they failed miserably during the first three games of their opening playoff series against San Jose. But game 4 offered hope. After shutting down the sharks again, the Kings traveled north and put the finishing touches to their historic comeback, which paved the way for the NHL Stanley Cup Championship.
2. Florida Marlins in the 2003 National League Championship Series: After losing three out of the four games to Chicago’s north side squad in the NLCS, Florida gave the ball to pitcher Josh Packett, who thoroughly shut down the cubbies in game 5, and the hometown team took a commanding three nothing lead into the eighth innings.
3. Michael Jordan’s NBA Comeback in 1995: Michael Jordan’s decision to comeback to the NBA after a 17-month stint playing baseball enthralled every basketball fan in the world. When the greatest basketball player to have ever played the sport finally laced up his kicks again, he instantly proved to be the player he was before, giving memorable moments in the second half of his first season, before running off another three-peat in his first full season back.
4. Buffalo Bills’ NFL Wild Card Game in 1993: With their starting and future Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly on the shelf, the Buffalo Bills’ hopes for advancing to a third straight Super Bowl appearance rested on backup Frank Reich. It didn’t start well for him.
Playing the Oilers for the second game in a row—the two teams squared off in Week 17 with Houston winning, 27-3—it appeared that the Bills would be run off the field again.
Trailing 28-3 at halftime, things initially didn’t get much better in third quarter, when a Reich pass was picked off and returned for a touchdown, giving the Oilers a 32-point advantage.
Miraculously, though, Buffalo rolled off 28-straight points the rest of that quarter and eventually closed regulation all tied up, before a Steve Christie field goal capped the most amazing playoff comeback in NFL history.
5. Boston Red Sox in ALCS, 2004: There’s simply nothing better than the Boston Red Sox overcoming a 3-0 series deficit to defeat their hated rivals, the New York Yankees, in 2004’s ALCS. In the 2004 ALCS, the Boston Red Sox not only managed to pull off a victory, but also kicked off a miraculous comeback, the likes of which had never been seen before in baseball. Also, it all ended with a Game 7 clincher on the Yankees’ own turf. The Red Sox later won the world series, which was quite a historic event in its own right.
