Crows great Andrew McLeod says retiring Carlton champion Chris Judd changed the way midfielders played the game.

Judd confirmed his retirement this morning after he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against Adelaide at the MCG on Saturday.

McLeod believes the two-time Brownlow Medallist will be remembered as one of the greatest players of the modern era.

“It was his longevity and his ability to deliver on the big stage, Juddy will be one of those players who is celebrated in this way,” Crows games record-holder McLeod said.

“He hit the ball quite hard (at stoppages), got it on the move a lot. He could run all day but he also had that real genuine turn of pace. He could take his opponents to the contest and then be out the other side and gone. His ability to finish, too, he carried the ball and broke the lines and could hurt you on the scoreboard.”

Judd, who played 279 AFL games for West Coast and Carlton, today thanked Crows fans for their support when he was stretchered off the MCG on Saturday with a career-ending knee injury.

He received a standing ovation from supporters of both clubs after he was injured in the first term.

"It was a really trying time for me as a person, so to be shown that level of respect as I was carried off was amazing," he said at his press conference.

"Once I heard it was an ACL, I knew I wouldn’t play again," Judd, 31, said.

"It was a disappointing finish to my career but I don't lose sight of the fact about how fortunate I've been to play for two such wonderful football clubs."

Judd will be remembered as one of the game’s greatest midfielders. He won five best and fairest awards across his 279 games for West Coast and Carlton and was named All Australian six times. He won the Brownlow in 2004 with the Eagles and 2010 at Carlton.

Judd was captain of the Eagles in 2006 when the club won its first premiership since 1994 and won the Norm Smith Medal in 2005 in the club's four-point loss to the Sydney Swans.