"Nick Hardwick won't make a rash decision.

He loves the playing the game, being around his teammates, sharing in the victories and battling through the defeats too much to not think this through.

However, the Chargers center for the past eight years is not just facing free agency for the first time but contemplating walking away from the NFL at age 30, a young man who can look forward to being a relatively healthy old man.

"I love football," Hardwick said Wednesday. "It's a hard decision. There is a lot that goes into it. It's heavy. So I'm not willing to think about it right now.""