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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; Jason Hanson chose to retire after passing on the Lions' 2013 contract offer. (Mark Cunningham/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The NFL's longest-tenured player, Lions kicker Jason Hanson, retired Thursday after 21 seasons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hanson, 42, holds NFL records for games played with one team (327) and 50-yard field goals (52) and is third in league history with 2,150 points and 495 field goals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He's been the Lions' kicker since drafted with a second-round pick in 1992. He preferred to play one more NFL season, but opted to retire after the Lions made him a one-time offer of around $1 million.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lions president Tom Lewand last week offered no guarantee that the team could fit Hanson under its salary cap. \u201CIt\u2019s not a system that provides for a lot of allowance for sentimentality,\u201D Lewand said via the &lt;em&gt;Detroit Free Press&lt;/em&gt;. \u201CWe have the utmost respect for Jason and want to have him back, but it\u2019s a situation where everything has to fit. The salary cap is a real restraint for all 32 clubs and we have to operate within that and within our plans. So we\u2019ve had our discussions with Jason and like I said we have the utmost respect for him personally and professionally which is why we want to have him back.\u201D&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hanson made a good showing in 2012, making 32 of 36 kicks. Three of his four misses hit an upright.\nThe Lions had already begun a search for Hanson's replacement, hosting veteran David Akers who left without a deal, and working out Justin Medlock and trick-kicking Internet star Havard Rugland.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2013/04/04/jason-hanson-lions-retires>