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"I never thought this day would come as I was convinced I would play the game forever," Howard said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Unfortunately, my knee is telling me I have gone past my expiry date.

"It is always difficult coming to this decision as my mind knows there is so much more fuel left in the tank, but my body cannot keep up."

Howard's junior career included two straight runner-up finishes at the Ontario Junior Championship (1980, 81) and an Ontario University Athletics Association title in 1984 as skip of the University of Waterloo.

He joined as a third on a team based out of Penetanguishene, Ont., skipped by his brother Russ in 1985.

That squad went on to win the 1987 Brier in Edmonton, scoring five in the 10th end in an 11-7 win over British Columbia in the final.

They continued that success later that year in Vancouver, beating Germany 9-5 in the men's world championship final, again on the strength of a five-point final end.

The Howards, with Russ as skip, teamed up again for another sweep of Canadian and world titles in 1993 on a team that included future star skip Wayne Middaugh.

They defeated B.C. skip Rick Folk 5-3 in the Brier final in Ottawa, then defeated Scotland 8-4 in the world championship final in Geneva, Switzerland.

"Thank you to my brother Russ for paving the way down the sheet and allowing me to follow in his footsteps. First as a fan, then as a teammate and lastly as a skip myself," Howard said.

"Howard took over as skip of his own team in 2000 and won his first Brier in 2007 by defeating Olympic champion Brad Gushue of St. John's, N.L., 10-6 in the final, with a team that included Richard Hart, Brent Laing, and Craig Savill.

That year he won his first of two word titles as a skip, scoring four in the first end en route to an 8-3 win over Germany in the final in Edmonton.

Howard completed his last title sweep in 2012, winning the Canadian final in Saskatoon 7-6 over Alberta's Kevin Koe and downing Scotland's Tom Brewster 8-7 in an extra end to take the world crown in Basel, Switzerland.

A veteran of 20 Brier appearances (he was an alternate on his team this year due to his knee injury), Howard was runner-up seven times and took bronze three times.

He also posted 14 wins on the Grand Slam tour, with the last one coming at the 2013 Masters.

His son Scott had been part of his team since the 2015-16 season.

"I knew many years ago I wanted to finish my career playing with my son Scott," Howard said. "We have now played together for eight years, way more than I had ever anticipated and hoped for.

"It has been a wonderful journey watching Scott grow into the confident curler that he is today. Now it is time to pass the baton off to him as he is ready to take on the skip position."

This report by °µÍø½ûÇø was first published April 16, 2024.