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MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota Vikings right tackle Phil Loadholt has decided to retire from the NFL after seven seasons, halting his comeback from injury because of a recent setback.The Vikings placed Loadholt on the reserve/retired list Monday, four days before the teams first practice of training camp.Loadholt, a second-round draft pick by the Vikings out of Oklahoma in 2009, missed the 2015 season because of a torn Achilles tendon on his left foot. He also missed the last five games of the 2014 season because of a torn pectoral muscle.Loadholt took a pay cut to return for the final year of his contract and went through spring workouts and minicamp without obvious problem, but he said Monday that he suffered a left leg injury in the past few weeks that steered him toward the end of his career.I just figured that my body was telling me that it was time for me to go ahead and transition out of the game, Loadholt said, adding: Basically I couldnt go into training camp with it like that.Prior to those injuries, the 6-foot-8, 345-pound Loadholt sat out only twice over the first 93 games of his career including the playoffs. He was a starter from his rookie year on. His 89 regular-season starts are ninth in Vikings history for an offensive tackle.Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Loadholt fondly recalled the 2009 season when the Vikings advanced to the NFC championship game behind quarterback Brett Favre and 2012 when Adrian Peterson came within 9 yards of breaking the leagues all-time single-season rushing record.Ill miss that crowd roar when Adrian breaks an 80-yard run, Loadholt said, adding: When you feel him running up your back and you flatten somebody and you just see them looking at Adrians feet going down, thats always the best memories right there.Now a full-time family man and a former NFL player, Loadholt said he wasnt sure how hed spend his time, other than to begin by taking his children to Minnesota State University in Mankato to watch his friends practice and eat a few blocks away at training camp fixture Jakes Stadium Pizza. Hed like to stay involved in the sport, specifically to encourage and mentor youth learning to play.This will be the first fall in about 23 years that Im not getting ready for a season so its going to be rough, Loadholt said. I mean, its been rough the last couple years, but Im at peace with my decision and I know that Id rather be out there at 100 percent than being not healthy and ready to roll.Loadholt was facing an uphill fight to make the team, given his age, his recent health trouble and the depth chart. Newcomer Andre Smith and incumbent T.J. Clemmings will compete for the starting spot at right tackle.Vikings right guard Brandon Fusco, who lined up next to Loadholt for three seasons, declared this on Twitter a sad day in posting his well wishes for a now-former teammate.Phil is my guy. Great football player but (an) even better person. Gonna miss the big homie, Fusco tweeted.---Online:AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFLCheap Real Air Max . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Cheap Air Max For Sale . - The Washington Redskins have cut defensive lineman Adam Carriker and punter Sav Rocca. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. Clearance Air Max . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Fake Air Max . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players.Are you a sports fan?Its an innocuous question, one that usually prompts a benign response. For author and comedian Sara Benincasa, considering the roots of her admittedly limited fandom brought on tears.Id invited Benincasa on my Thats What She Said podcast after reading her hilarious, viral piece Why Am I So Fat? Her interest in sports was immaterial to the invite, but I was curious -- even more so when the topic churned up such emotion.I was raised on sports metaphors; you know? she said. For somebody who doesnt follow sports that closely I feel weirdly comfortable in a sports-related environment. My dad was a Yankees fan, which was a great thing to be when I was growing up. And he was a Jets fan, which has never been a great thing to be, except maybe in 1969.Ill cry if I talk about my dad, she continued, doing that sort of half-laughing, half-crying thing a person does when theyre surprised by their own emotions. I talk to my friend Peggy OLeary, who will laugh at this, because she comes from an Eagles family. And we talk about the value of losing and, like, growing up with loss. It teaches you something that sports is about. Sorry Im crying! Oh my God!Yeah, why are you crying? I asked.Im also laughing, like a hysterical person, said Benincasa. I think its about my dad. I love my dad a lot.Is he still with us?He is! Hes super not dead! I think I just appreciate the value of somebody loving losers. Just knowing theyre going to break your heart. Theyre always going to break your heart. Its always going to happen...And he still does it.It turns out, even if youre not really a sports fan -- even if you give zero you-know-whats -- the Jets can still make you cry.They just did it again on Sunday. AA one-point loss to the Bengals accomplished via a missed extra point, a late interception and a surrendered field goal with seconds to play -- so Jets.ddddddddddddThe New Jersey-based team with the New York name once again flexed its masochistic muscle, reminding fans that the Jets can make even a Week 1 loss hurt like hell.For Benincasa, choosing to suffer that inevitable Jets heartbreak over and over is so endearing it elicits tears. Those of us with closets full of numbered clothes and vacations planned around away games understand how mood-altering a teams effort can be, and our friends and family feel it, too. It can be difficult to get inside someone elses appreciation for a great movie, song or piece of art, but somehow it seems we can feel their anguish or joy after an important game.Sports are a powerful mess of civic pride, childhood memories, nostalgia and hero worship. For some families, game day means a rare safe space to share. Political differences are put aside, arguments are shelved and the TV remote briefly loses its status as a catalyst for a wrestling match.Families bond over matching jerseys, the creation of a new tailgate snack or the backstory of a popular player. Parents teach their kids which team to root for, how to throw a spiral, what a rub route looks like and how to balance a helmet full of a nachos and a giant soda while walking up a steep flight of 400-level stairs.A bond is formed, even for folks who share sports from the periphery, like Benincasa. For her, football means getting to see her fathers heart through his love for the Jets. ' ' '