As expected, Steelers center Jeff Hartings officially announced his retirement from the team today.

Hartings, who succeeded Dermontti Dawson at a position that has been the team's most stable and successful for the past four decades, told his fellow offensive linemen shortly after the season ended that he planned to retire.

Hartings ends an 11-year playing career with two teams at two positions. He began as a guard after the Detroit Lions drafted him in the first round from Penn State in 1996. He switched to center, a position he had never played, when he signed with the Steelers in 2001 as an unrestricted free agent.

Hartings started all but six games over the past six seasons at center despite chronic problems and soreness with his knees because of a loss of cartilage.

"Jeff Hartings embraced switching to a new position when he joined the Steelers, and continued our team's legacy of outstanding players at the center position," said Steelers President Art Rooney II. "He was highly respected throughout our entire organization for being a tremendous role model both on and off the field."

First Published: February 5, 2007, 5:00 a.m.