GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona Cardinals tight end Jake Ballard announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday. In a statement on Wednesday, Ballard traced his decision to the severe knee injury he sustained playing for the New York Giants in the 2012 Super Bowl. "My body never felt the same," he said. "Having a quality of life after football is very important to me and I have witnessed it taken away from others. I will miss the game tremendously, but I am ready for this next chapter in my life." Ballard was signed by the Giants as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Ohio State in 2010. In the Giants 2011 Super Bowl season, he started 13 regular season games, catching 38 passes for 604 yards and four touchdowns. Ballard played in all four of New Yorks post-season games that season, three as a starter. He was signed by New England in 2012, but missed the entire season because of the knee injury. Ballard signed with the Cardinals in November of last year. He appeared in eight games for Arizona, three as a starter. He caught seven passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals. Ballard was in a crowded competition at tight end for Arizona. His retirement leaves the team with free agent signee John Carlson, returnee Rob Housler, rookie second-round draft pick Troy Niklas and Darren Fells, a former college basketball player who spent his rookie season a year ago on the Cardinals practice squad. Nationals Andrew Stevenson Jersey .Under the agreement announced Monday, the Cuban defector is guaranteed $68.5 million over six seasons.Tomas gets a $14 million signing bonus that is payable within 30 days of the deals approval by Major League Baseball, and then salaries of $2 million next year, $4 million in 2016, $6 million in 2017 and $10 million in 2018. Nationals Stephen Strasburg Jersey .C. -- Gleason Fournier scored the shootout winner as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-3 Friday in American Hockey League action. http://www.cheapnationalsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=nationals-howie-kendrick-jersey . The Calgary skip fell 10-8 to Swedens Oskar Eriksson in semifinal action Saturday and will face Switzerlands Peter de Cruz for the bronze medal (Saturday at 10pm et/7pm pt on TSN2). Nationals Kelvin Herrera Jersey . As if the individual strands of grey hair or the increasing amount of joint pain werent reminders enough, the impending end of Jeters career is a slap-in-the-face indicator of a generations fleeting youth. Nationals Justin Miller Jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson.ROME - Local favourite Francesca Schiavone eliminated Canadian Eugenie Bouchard from the Italian Open on Monday. Schiavone defeated the Westmount, Que., native, who was the 17th seed, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round. Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov overcame a slow start and sweaty hands to beat 45th-ranked Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Italian Open on Monday. The 14th-ranked Dimitrov, a Bulgarian who at 22 is the youngest player in the top 20, did not take well to the red-and-white towels at the Foro Italico. "Theyre new and they dont absorb any sweat," he said. "Three or four times I was about to lose my racket. I asked several times (for all-white towels) but they told me, We dont have it." Dimitrov will next face big-serving Ivo Karlovic, who beat Spanish qualifier Pablo Carreno Busta 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). In an upset, 13th-seeded Fabio Fognini, the top Italian hope, was handily beaten by 56th-ranked Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2. Also, 11th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saved two set points in the second set before eliminating Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 7-6 (5). In womens play, Sam Stosur beat Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 6-3; 11th-seeded Ana Ivanovic defeated Italian wild-card entry Karin Knapp 6-1, 6-1; 12th-seeded Flavia Pennetta got past Yvonnne Meusburger of Austria, 6-2, 6-3; and 16th-seeded American Sloane Stephens rallied past Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.dddddddddddd Also, 1999 champion Venus Williams cruised past Annika Beck of Germany 6-3, 6-1. The eight top-seeded players have first-round byes. Second-ranked Novak Djokovic is back after withdrawing from last weeks Madrid Open with a right wrist injury and Roger Federer was out on the practice courts after also taking last week off to welcome the birth of his second set of twins. Top-ranked and defending champion Serena Williams, however, wouldnt commit to playing as she waits to see how her injured left thigh feels. "Im taking it a day at a time. Well see as the week goes on. I have the rest of the day off and Ill see how I feel tomorrow," Serena said. "I hit some balls today a little bit so Im going to see later tonight how it feels." Serena withdrew before her quarterfinal match in Madrid, where she had her thigh heavily bandaged and said the injury occurred during a first-round victory over Belinda Bencic. One of the only top players not in Rome was Kei Nishikori of Japan, who retired midway through Sundays Madrid final against Rafael Nadal citing a lower back and hip injury. 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