AP

Jason Hanson, the longtime Lions kicker who is the NFL’s longest-serving active player and the player who has played in more games for one team than any other player in NFL history, has decided to call it a career.

The 42-year-old Hanson told DetroitLions.com that he is not 100 percent healthy and thought a foot injury was going to keep him from playing at his best.

“It was time to make a decision,” Hanson said. “It was the right time to step away. “Ultimately, it’s my heel – the problem I developed last year. Now that we’re starting a new year, it’s still an issue. I have the desire. I have the determination, as I said earlier, to come back. Each time I’d start to push it, I’d kind of short-circuit. I realized that at this point of my career, I don’t want to perform in a compromised way. It’s not good for the team. I lost a little of my desire to play injured.”

Hanson owns the NFL records for most career 50-yard field goals (51) and most games played with one team (327). He’ll go down in history as one of the best kickers ever to play the game.