Jim Henderson, the longtime play-by-play man for WWL Radio's broadcasts of New Orleans Saints games, on Thursday announced he is retiring.

"It's time. This is a good year to go out," Henderson said in a story posted on WWL's website. "I will miss our Saints Radio broadcast team; I will miss calling the games. But I'm looking forward to experiencing Saints football purely as a fan."

Henderson's broadcast partner the past two seasons has been Saints legend Deuce McAllister. "It's a bittersweet moment," McAllister told WWL. "In a way you wanna cry, but in a way you're so happy and proud; because you know the work, the heart Jim put into his job (Jim) brought joy to everyone who loves Saints football."

Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis spoke with Henderson on the air Thursday afternoon. 

"Congratulations to you but I really think it's condolences to the rest of us," Loomis told Henderson on WWL Radio. "You have absolutely been the best at what you do for a long period of time. I can't tell you how much we appreciate the job you have done for us and the support you have given us."

Diane Newman, WWL operations and program director called Henderson "the pros pro. He makes a very complex job look and sound easy, that's because he loves the game... Hondo deserves time to just be."

Earlier this year Henderson received the Distinguished Journalism Award from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame for his 30 year television and radio career. Henderson worked the majority of his TV career at WWL-4 before moving to Fox-8.

This story will be updated.