NFL kicker Matt Stover retires

BALTIMORE, May 26 (UPI) -- NFL kicker Matt Stover, the fourth-leading scorer in league history, announced his retirement Thursday.

Although Stover was not on a roster in 2010, he had yet to sign papers officially declaring his career was at an end. He spent almost two decades with the Baltimore franchise and his retirement announcement came at Ravens headquarters.

If games are played as scheduled this year, Stover will be inducted into Baltimore's Ring of Honor Nov. 20.

"The thing about being in the Ring of Honor is that I meant so much to my team, to the community," Stover said. "That to me is just an awesome, awesome privilege. I cannot imagine a greater honor that an organization can give to a player, and I appreciate the Ravens for doing that.

"I'll be proud to retire as a Raven."

Stover spent the 1990 season on injured reserve with the New York Giants, then joined the Cleveland Browns in 1991. He stayed with that franchise when it moved to Baltimore and kicked for the Ravens through the 2008 season.

After being released by Baltimore, Stover signed with Indianapolis when Adam Vinatieri was injured and appeared in 10 games for the Colts.

He piled up 2,004 points in his career, trailing Morten Andersen (2,544), Gary Anderson (2,434) and John Carney (2,044) in the NFL record book.

His 83.7 percent field goal percentage is seventh-best in NFL history and he missed just three extra point tries in 594 attempts.