CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Mike Rucker turned to thank Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson and started to choke up. Richardson’s lower lip was quivering as he wiped his eyes with a tissue.

It was clear from the moist eyes that filled the room during his retirement news conference that the defensive end left a mark on the franchise – well beyond his 553 tackles and 55 sacks. “I’m done,” Rucker said, his voice cracking. “I have to let it go.”

It wasn’t easy, and it was perhaps even more difficult for the people Rucker touched in the organization where he spent his entire nine-year career.

Rucker ranks second in team history in tackles and sacks, and third in games played with 139. But that wasn’t why the room was jammed with not only more than two dozen current and former teammates, but trainers and receptionists, too.

It was because Rucker was the guy who asked the low-level employee about his family, who would sign up to visit sick children in hospitals.

“He’s been a role model for the organization and for the community,” Richardson said.

Rucker, dressed in a blue pinstriped suit, broke down several times as he thanked everyone from coach John Fox to the head of security and the equipment managers, explaining how he reversed a decision he made 10 weeks ago to play at least one more season.

To the 33-year-old Rucker, it was simple, yet hard to accept: His body wasn’t going to let him chase down quarterbacks and butt heads with 300-pound offensive linemen anymore.

“I just want you to know that I gave you everything I got,” Rucker told Fox. “The tank is empty. It’s empty.”

Rucker then turned to his teammates who voted him a captain last season, less than a year removed from major knee surgery that nearly ended his career.

Rucker talked about the despair of the 1-15 season in 2001, the euphoria of the Super Bowl trip two years later and the monotony of two-a-day workouts in the choking heat of training camp.

“It’s going to be hard not to be able to joke with you guys on a regular basis,” Rucker said. “I love you dudes. … You’ve all got a place in my heart.”

It was the second time since August the Panthers said goodbye to one of their stalwarts. Safety Mike Minter, Rucker’s closest friend and fellow former Nebraska Cornhusker, retired last summer during training camp.

Like Minter, Rucker plans to stay in Charlotte with his wife and three children, continuing his numerous charitable and business endeavors.

The Panthers now look to fill the leadership void.

“We’re getting ready for the draft and you’re sitting there and studying all these players,” defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac said. “You look and you think, ‘God, you just want to get a guy like Minter or Rucker.”‘

Rucker was Carolina’s second-round pick in 1999. At 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds, Rucker had the combination of size and quickness that made him one of the anchors of the Panthers’ defensive line.

Rucker’s only Pro Bowl selection came, not coincidentally, in Carolina’s only Super Bowl trip in 2003 when he had a career-high 12 sacks. He started all but one game two years later when the Panthers reached the NFC championship game.

Rucker’s biggest obstacle was the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee he suffered near the end of the 2006 season. Determined not to have his final football memory be getting carted off the field, Rucker underwent a grueling rehabilitation and was practicing seven months later.

Rucker got off to a slow start last season, but his numbers picked up once he shed the bulky brace on his knee. Rucker returned to his starting spot on the defensive line and finished with 57 tackles and three sacks.

Rucker talked openly of retirement near the end of last season, and was in tears after what turned out to be his final home game in December.

Rucker’s announcement in February that he wanted to play one more season was fueled by a goal to play in the NFL with his younger brother, Martin. A tight end from Missouri, he’s expected to be taken in this weekend’s draft.

But Carolina, looking to get younger on the defensive line after being next-to-last in the NFL with 23 sacks in 2007, did not immediately re-sign him. Rucker started to question whether he wanted to try to play for another team, and his creaky body was telling him he was through.

He said he told his brother of his decision Tuesday morning.

“I just told him that I loved him and I’m passing the baton to him,” Rucker said.

The Panthers may turn to the draft to find Rucker’s replacement, who will play opposite defensive end Julius Peppers. But it’s clear it will take a long time to replace Rucker in the halls of Bank of America Stadium.

“He exemplifies what I look for and I know what our organization and our team looks for,” Fox said. “As a teammate, Mike couldn’t be held in any higher regard not only as a football player but also as a person.”

AP-ES-04-22-08 1748EDT