NEW YORK -- Andy Pettitte had no interest in a farewell tour or some big pronouncement regarding his (second) retirement. Anything more than a conference call the day after the season would only feel embarrassing. "Because Ive done this before," said a sheepish Pettitte, who briefly stepped away from baseball two years ago. "I feel awkward doing this right now, to tell you the truth." Still, the New York Yankees pitcher was having a hard time telling people he wasnt sure if he would be back next season when he already knew this was it. And he wanted to thank fans for all their support, something he wished he had a chance to do the first time. So after discussing it with several close friends -- including Mariano Rivera over lunch in Toronto -- Pettitte chose to formally announce his decision at a Yankee Stadium news conference Friday. "Im ready to be home again," Pettitte said. "But the biggest thing is, Im just done." In a statement released Friday afternoon, hours before the Yankees began their final homestand, the 41-year-old Pettitte said he has reached the point where he knows he has left everything he has on the field. The left-hander initially retired after the 2010 season, but sat out only one year before returning to the Yankees. This time, he means it. "The time is right. Ive exhausted myself, mentally and physically, and thats exactly how I want to leave this game," he said. In a nice bit of symmetry, Pettitte is scheduled to make two more starts this season -- one at Yankee Stadium and the other in his hometown of Houston. "That is crazy. It really is. Its cool that its going to work out that way," he said. Pettitte is set to pitch against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, when the Yankees will honour Rivera in a pregame ceremony. Baseballs career saves leader also is retiring. Pettitte said one of the things he struggled with in making an announcement was "doing anything to take away from Marianos day" because of how much Rivera has meant to him and his career. Rivera, however, encouraged Pettitte to say goodbye at Yankee Stadium. "He thinks its going to make the day even better," Pettitte said. "I feel like were connected." Rivera has saved 72 of Pettittes 255 career wins, the most for any tandem in major league history. "Its like brothers. We came up in this organization at the same time. Weve been through good times and bad times," Rivera said. "Now we go out together, too." Asked if he had any regrets, Pettitte mentioned human growth hormone. He has admitted using the banned substance years ago, saying he did it in an effort to recover faster from an injury. He said he would never want kids to think he tried to cheat. "I know my heart. Ive never tried to cheat this game. Never tried to cheat anything in my life," Pettitte said. "Thats the truth." Pettitte holds MLB records for post-season wins (19) and starts (44), but it would take quite a surge by the Yankees for him to get an opportunity to add to those marks. They began the day 3 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay and Texas for the second AL wild card, with three other teams in between. A three-time All-Star, Pettitte has helped New York to seven AL pennants and five World Series championships during 15 seasons in pinstripes. He was the MVP of the 2001 AL championship series and is the franchise leader in career strikeouts with 2,009. He joined longtime buddies Rivera, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada to make up the "Core Four" that has led the Yankees to more than a decade and a half of sustained success. "Weve had a great run here," Pettitte said. "I just feel like my time here is done." Jeter, limited by injuries to just 17 games this season, will be the only one left next year. "Ive known about this for a while, but I just havent thought about it," he said. "Youre not going to see that again, I dont think." Pettitte said he probably wouldnt have made a comeback last year if general manager Brian Cashman hadnt called to gauge his interest. The original plan was to return for one season, but a broken ankle that sidelined Pettitte for almost three months changed his mind. He knew coming into 2013 that this would be it, and nothing thats happened since has made him vacillate -- including a back injury that wasnt easy to shake. Pettitte is 10-10 with a 3.93 ERA in 28 starts. After a rough patch, he has pitched particularly well down the stretch with New York desperately chasing a playoff berth. "Vintage Andy Pettitte. Crunch time, hes always there," manager Joe Girardi said. "Its just who Andy Pettitte is. When the stakes get higher, he gets better." Asked for his greatest moment, Pettitte mentioned the first championship he won with the Yankees in 1996 -- which ended an 18-year drought for the franchise. His final start is scheduled for next weekend against Houston, the only team for which he has played besides the Yankees. Pettitte spent 2004-06 with the Astros, teaming with Roger Clemens to help the club make its only World Series appearance in 2005. In retirement, Pettitte said he will spend time with his wife and four children, travel and get very involved at church again. "Its been a long, hard year," he said. "Ive been retired and I know what its going to be like. Its awesome." wholesale jerseys . The Goldeyes lost 7-4 to the Sioux Falls Pheasants Friday night before 2,714 fans at Sioux Falls Stadium. wholesale nfl jerseys . TSN 1290s coverage begins with the pregame show at 11:00am Monday morning with Rick Ralph, colour analyst Bob Crawford joins Brian Munz in the broadcast booth for the play-by-play at noon. http://www.wholesalejerseychinast... . Forget the remarkable finish, the one that kept the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoff picture until the final minutes of the regular season. [url=http://www.wholesalejerseychinastore.com/]cheap nfl jerseys . And fans of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs will have to wait a little longer to see those teams meet again in the post-season. cheap jerseys . But the heptathlete plans to move out of her Calgary home while shes competing. Zelinka wants to avoid distractions and concentrate on her seven events over two days.The NFL has reached a $765 million settlement with its retired players over concussion-related lawsuits. There were over 220 lawsuits filed by 4500 players, including Tony Dorsett, Eric Dickerson, Mark Rypien, Tony Mandarich, Art Monk, Jim McMahon and Jamal Lewis, as well as the estate of the late Junior Seau. Make no mistake – these lawsuits fundamentally changed the sports landscape and the sports discussion as it relates to player safety across all sports. Lets look at some of the key takeaways from the settlement. Werent these lawsuits just about players complaining about risks they knew about? No. More please. The key allegation raised by the players was that the NFL concealed information. The players argued that the NFL knew of the long-term neurological impact of headshots and didnt share their findings and information with the players. Players like former Bears QB Jim McMahon knew there was some risk associated with playing football. However, he along with about 4500 other retired NFL players, contend that the NFL had better information about the potentially devastating impact of repeated headshots and deliberately concealed this information from NFL players. The players were basically saying this: We knew there was some risk of harm with playing football but not this level of debilitating injury. The NFL, however, knew of the risk and didnt share that with us. So concealment is a really important part of these lawsuits? Yes very important. As important as avoiding picking Alfred Morris in the first round of a PPR fantasy league. Who would have won at trial? Cant say at this point. Everything turns on the evidence presented at trial. To win, the players needed to show that the NFL had key information about the long-term and devastating impact of headshots and didnt share that with the players (so back to concealment). They would have needed a smoking gun so to speak. The NFL had some good arguments defending their position. First, they would have argued that players were aware of the risk associated with playing football and agreed to those risks each time they stepped onto the field. They would have also maintained that they didnt conceal anything. As well, the NFL would have pointed out that no one can say for sure what caused a players dementia, and even if it was caused by repeated headshots while playing football, how much of that damage was sustained outside the NFL in places like college or high school ball. So what caused the dementia and when it was caused become important issues. Theres more. The NFL argued early on that these lawsuits didnt belong in court in the first place, but rather should have gone to arbitration. The collective bargaining agreement provides that issues of player health and safety go to arbitration and not court. On the flip side, the players argued that since this case involved fraud, it properly fell outside of arbitration and within the jurisdiction of the courts. Bottom line is this: both sides faced challenges in this case and thats where we generally see settlement. The NFL is paying out $765 million as part of the settlement? Who wins with this settlement – the players or the league? The NFL did well. While $765 million is a lot of money, it breaks down to about $4 million per team in each of the first 3 years and then another few hundred thousand dollars per team for the next 17 years. The upfront payment of $4 million is by NFL standards a modest sum of money. To put it in perspective, thats what Falcons RB Steven Jackson will make this year. There was the potential a jury could have come back with a big monetary award against thee NFL in the billions of dollars.dddddddddddd This settlement helps the NFL avoid that type of potentially catastrophic award. So $765 million is a big number. Very big. But once disbursed across the leagues 32 teams, it becomes manageable. These lawsuits also generated a lot of negative press for the NFL. There were discussions focused on the death of the league. NFL MVP Adrian Peterson declared he didnt want his kid to play football because the sport was too dangerous. By settling these cases, the NFL can now look to change the conversation about football. Thats really important. Ok – how did the players do? This case was going to settle. It was surprising, though, to see it settle this early. For the players, an early pressure point would have been to force the NFL to produce sensitive documents going back decades. Thats something any business would not want to do, including the NFL. Still, the settlement suggests that the players had concerns with their case. Ultimately, though, this is not a bad deal for the players. Does this settlement mean the NFL is saying they were wrong and liable for this mess? No. The NFL expressly said that they are not admitting liability. Why wouldnt the NFL admit guilt? First – and this is key – they dont want to go on the public record saying they are guilty. If they did, a retired player could sue them and rely on that statement. As you can imagine, an admission of guilt would be a pretty powerful weapon for a plaintiff to use against the NFL. As well, from a PR standpoint, the NFL doesnt want to characterize itself as the villain in all this. Finally, the NFLs position is that they are not responsible. So why admit to something you are not convinced you did. Wait a minute – retired players could still sue despite settlement? Yes. The settlement agreement will bind about 18,000 retired NFL players. Specifically, it applies to every NFL player that is retired at the time the Court rubber stamps the settlement agreement. That could happen in the near future. However, a player has the option to opt-out of the settlement agreement. If a player believes that he can do a lot better filing his own individual lawsuit, he would tell the court and the NFL thanks but no thanks, Im headed to court. Ultimately, the player would sit down with his lawyers and figure out what makes most sense. One more point – the Court has to be satisfied that the settlement is adequate and reasonable before it approves it (thats right – the Court has to approve the agreement). If it concludes the agreement is not fair, it may not approve it. So theres another reason the NFL didnt admit liability – what if the agreement is not approved. Expect the deal to be approved by the court and close to all players agreeing to the terms of settlement. Will we see new lawsuits filed by current players? Those would be tough to win. The focus of the retired player lawsuits was that players were unable to make informed decisions about playing football because the league concealed information about the devastating impact of repeated headshots. Today that information is readily available. So it would be very tough for a current player to argue that he did not have enough information to make an informed decision. Dont see it. So whats next? Wait and see if any other players opt-out of the settlement and head back to court. Does this settlement affect my fantasy lineup? Should I have drafted Lamar Miller? No, your fantasy lineup is unaffected. As for Lamar, he should have a good season as the Dolphins lead back. A-Rod makes me angry. Thats a separate column. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '