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GLENDALE, Ariz. Adidas Jerseys . -- 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. Wholesale Jerseys . Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China. Soccer Jerseys . Giants manager Bruce Bochy told The Associated Press of the decision before NL West-leading San Francisco opened a 10-game homestand Monday night with the first of three games against second-place Arizona.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. The Flames have split the first two of a three-game homestand, besting the Washington Capitals last Saturday before falling by a 4-2 score to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. Matt Stajan and David Jones had goals and Karri Ramo stopped 18-of-21 shots, but Leafs netminder Jonathan Bernier came up with 41 saves. Calgary has lost three of four and five of its last seven overall, falling to 3-1-1 at home on the season. "I felt that we had a good game. We are not very pleased with the result but I dont know what we could have done more. Offensively we generated a lot. Our forechecking was good. Our puck decisions in the offensive zone were very good but Bernier basically stole the game away from us," said Calgary coach Bob Hartley. Ramo was making his third straight start and former Red Wings netminder Joey MacDonald is expected to face his old club tonight. MacDonald spent two seasons in Detroit before getting claimed off waivers by Calgary on Feb. 11. The 33-year-old has faced the Red Wings just once prior, notching a 42-save shutout on March 27, 2009 while with tthe New York Islanders. College Jerseys. The Flames outscored the Red Wings 12-5 in winning all three meetings last season, winning twice at home. Detroit has lost three of its past four in Calgary, but is coming off a 2-1 win over Vancouver on Wednesday that began a four-game road trip. The Red Wings are 4-2-0 as the guest this season. Daniel Alfredsson scored in a second straight game and Tomas Tatar notched his first goal of the season for the Red Wings, who snapped a four-game slide (0-2-2). Jimmy Howard made 19 saves. "Ive got to give the guys a lot of credit tonight," Howard said. "They did a great job in front of me." Patrick Eaves made his season debut after missing the first 12 games due to a sprained knee and ankle injury, while Johan Franzen missed Wednesdays contest with an undisclosed injury. Franzen is likely to return tonight and has logged just two goals and three assists in 12 games. Howard is 7-5-0 with a 2.66 GAA in 12 career meetings with the Flames, while backup Jonas Gustavsson is 0-4-0 with a 4.61 GAA in five encounters. Detroit is scheduled to visit Edmonton on Saturday and Gustavsson could get the start in that game given his past history versus Calgary. He is 3-0-0 with a 2.13 GAA in four games (3 starts) overall this season. ' ' '