And, for the Oakland Raiders' 13-year veteran offensive guard, no more football.

"This is it," said Wisniewski, making official on Monday a retirement that he had informally announced three weeks ago. "I can look back on a great career and look forward to some other challenge. But that challenge will be outside of football."

The retirement concludes one of the most celebrated, and also controversial, careers in recent NFL history for an interior offensive lineman. Wisniewski played in eight Pro Bowl games and was one of the league's dominant left guards. But his brawling style also earned him a dubious reputation as one of the game's most notorious cheap-shot players.

The former Penn State star, a second-round choice in the 1989 draft, could merit consideration in five years for the Hall of Fame ballot.

Wisniewski, 34, nearly retired last summer and missed several days of training camp while he deliberated his future. He decided to return for the 2001 campaign but noted during the season it would probably be his final year. Three weeks ago, he announced he would retire and the end of the season, and on Monday he strongly reiterated that intent.

In his 13 seasons, Wisniewski appeared in 206 games, all of them as a starter. Despite various injuries, he missed only two contests, one each in 1989 and 1991.