For the last 46 years I've lived my job.

It's time to start living my life.

This column was the last deadline I needed to hit. Except for an occasional guest column, I'm leaving The Dallas Morning News after a 27-year stay as first a Cowboys beat reporter, then an NFL columnist and finally a general sports columnist.

I started my career in my hometown of Detroit, then moved on to New York City and Kansas City before The Morning News came calling in 1990. Tim Cowlishaw phoned to gauge my interest in covering the Cowboys and I told him I had none, that I had a great gig in Kansas City working for The Star and covering the Chiefs.

Then my longtime friend Tracy Ringolsby, a Hall of Fame baseball writer, called me and said, "I've worked at The Kansas City Star and I've worked at The Dallas Morning News. You ought to rethink this."

So I did. I took the interview with Dave Smith, the greatest sports editor in newspaper history, and went to work in Dallas covering the Cowboys. I got to know Jerry Jones before he was Jerry Jones -- before he won any rings or built any stadiums. I got to know the Triplets before they were the Triplets. Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin were learning how good they could be and how good the Cowboys could be when I was on the beat in 1990-91.

I already knew Jimmy Johnson. When I was in Kansas City, I spent time covering the Big Eight and got to know Jimmy and his staff at Oklahoma State in the 1970s. Dave Wannstedt, Tony Wise, Butch Davis ... who knew that a staff that couldn't beat Oklahoma would one day dominate the NFL? My relationship with Jimmy and his staff was probably a big part of why I was recruited by The Morning News for the paper's most competitive beat in the nation's most competitive football market.

I moved to the NFL beat in 1992, and Smith told me he wanted me to start grading the drafts. I figured if I was going to pass judgment on players the teams select, I should know what I'm talking about. That began my 20-year love affair with the NFL draft -- still the most fun I've ever had in my professional life.

I didn't watch any college game tapes -- but I talked to the men who did. I talked to NFL general managers, personnel directors, scouts, head coaches, assistant coaches and college coaches in an effort to determine who could play and who couldn't in building my draft board.

Over the years my network grew. By 2011, I was talking to talent evaluators in all 32 NFL buildings and built a network of some 130 draft contacts. My final draft board included 553 names. Only 254 would be drafted. So my mock drafts and Top 100 draft board became very popular with NFL teams.

I had head coaches and general managers call me the night before the draft at my hotel room in New York City asking for my mock. One NFL GM told me he considered me the league's 33rd team on draft day because of the credibility of my draft board. I even had teams call me while they were on the clock for their picks.

But I left all that behind in 2012 when The Morning News promoted me to general sports columnist. That was taking me back to my roots because I had covered all the sports in my previous stops.

I covered the Royals in 1980 when George Brett made his run at .400 and again in 1985 when Kansas City won its first World Series. I covered Tom Watson in Kansas City. I covered the NHL in Detroit and New York City and the NBA in Kansas City. I was a national college writer for United Press International in the 1980s and sat courtside when North Carolina State shocked Houston. I covered the Summer and Winter Olympics, golf's majors, heavyweight title fights, a World Cup and those 35 Super Bowls.

Now my bucket list is empty.

From the day I typed my first professional byline in 1973 on a typewriter, my goal never changed. I strived to educate and inform the reader. At some point in every story, I wanted my reader to think, "I didn't know that." If I accomplished that, I succeeded as a writer that day.

I won't necessarily miss the games. Lordy, I've seen enough games over the last 46 years. But I will miss the people. And the moments. Visiting with Brett at his locker on a nightly basis for nine summers on his way to the Hall of Fame. Sitting in the office of Frank Gansz at Arrowhead Stadium as he taught me NFL special teams play. Attending NBA games during the NFL combine with Tony Dungy. Sitting in the stands with Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh watching his daughter Meagan play basketball. Standing on the sideline with Norv Turner in Virginia watching his son Scott play football. Visiting with a Wannstedt or a Wise at my work cubicle at Valley Ranch on their way into work at 6:30 in the morning. Sitting in a bar in Orlando with Jerry Jones at 4 in the morning. Yes, there have been moments.

Now those moments will belong to others. As will the deadlines. The time has come to say goodbye to newspapers. And my readers. If it weren't for folks like you reading, there'd have been no point in me writing. The moments you took to read my story in the morning paper are the moments I've cherished most of all.

Twitter: @RickGosselin9