LOS ANGELES — Greg Hopkins isn't really sure what emotions he will feel as he watches his uniform No. 82 rise into the rafters of the Staples Center.

On Sunday, Hopkins' Arena Football League career will receive the punctuation reserved only for the greats when the Los Angeles Avengers retire his number.

The Slippery Rock University graduate has a theory, though, on how he will react.

"I'll probably cry like a baby," Hopkins said.

And why not? For 11 seasons — five spent with the Avengers — he made opponents weep with his receiving skills on offense as a receiver and tackling skills on defense as a linebacker.

Hopkins was voted one of the top 20 players in AFL history last year as the league marked it 20th season.

Only eight other players in league history have had numbers retired.

Hopkins has accomplished just about everything there is to achieve in the AFL.

He won a league championship as a member of the Albany Firebirds in 1999.

Three years later, Hopkins won the highest individual honor in the league when he was named Ironman of the Year after catching 102 passes for 1,295 yards and 29 touchdowns on offense and intercepting five passes — returning three for scores — on defense.

Nothing, though, can prepare him for what will happen on Sunday in front of 20 family and friends and nearly 13,000 fans.

"As a kid you dream of making the big play in the big game," Hopkins said. "But you never dream about anything like this."

Hopkins always had dreams, even growing up in the tiny town of Nineveh in Greene County.

Hopkins starred as a quarterback at Waynesburg High School and got a chance to play football at The Rock.

When he walked off the field after his final game at SRU, he had no idea his path would lead him to the AFL.

"When I hugged my grandparents, I though that might be it," Hopkins said. "I spent five years at Slippery Rock and I knew I still loved to play the game. I just didn't know where I would be playing."

Hopkins ended his AFL career with 830 receptions for 10,260 yards and 195 touchdowns. On defense, he recorded 497 career tackles and 26 interceptions. He also scored 10 career touchdowns on defense.

In February, The Pro FootballHall of Fame announced plans to create an Arena Football League exhibit in Canton. Already a member of the SlipperyRock University Hall of Fame, that might be Hopkins' next stop.

If his playing days are truly over, that is.

In 2006, Hopkins ran for election for State Representative in the 50th District in Pennsylvania as a Republican, losing to William DeWeese.

He then suffered a shoulder injury in the final game of the 2006 season and has surgery.

Hopkins said the shoulder is still not 100 percent, so he decided to retire.

It wasn't an easy decision for Hopkins, who said he still feels the urge to play.

He is currently the linebackers and defensive line coach for the Avengers.

"As a coach, I stand in a box on the sideline a foot and a half from the action," Hopkins said. "It makes it hard sometimes not to want to jump over the wall."

Hopkins, though, won't miss the wear and tear his body took during those 11 seasons playing every game on turf and having to deal with walls with little give as well as players zooming around the field.

Hopkins said the life of an AFL player is not an easy one.

"I won't miss the part when I got up on Sunday or Monday morning and could hardly move," Hopkins said. "I won't miss that. That's when I would think to myself, 'What in the world have you gotten yourself into?'

"I won't miss the walls either. The walls hit harder than some of the players. It takes a toll."

Sunday will be special for Hopkins in another way. His jersey will be side by side with former teammate Al Lucas, who died on the field on a kickoff return April 10, 2005.

Hopkins watched it all unfold in front of him.

"You learn so much about players and people and the bond you share as an athlete. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through."