Favre says he’ll return

Brett Favre has told the Green Bay Packers he will return to play this year, ESPN.com reported Tuesday night.

ESPN.com, citing anonymous team and league sources, said Favre informed Packers general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy of his decision in a telephone conversation Tuesday morning.

Calls by the Associated Press to Thompson, McCarthy, team president Bob Harlan and Favre’s agent, James “Bus” Cook, were not immediately returned.

Worries about Favre’s future have become an annual rite of winter for Packers fans, as the quarterback has contemplated retirement during the past several off-seasons – only to return each time.

L.A. hopes to lure NFL team

City officials in Los Angeles will pitch their plans to the NFL for an $800 million upgrade of the aging Los Angeles Coliseum next week in hopes of luring a professional football team back to town.

The 67,000-seat reconstruction would include 15,000 club seats, 500 luxury boxes and state-of-the-art amenities.

Tagliabue busy

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue added five teams to a committee that will help determine how a new revenue-sharing plan – important to small-market franchises’ economic stability – will work under the league’s new labor deal.

Tagliabue appointed Houston, Green Bay, Cleveland, Detroit and St. Louis to the committee. Two more teams, representing the league’s lower-revenue franchises, will be added soon to complete the eight-member committee.

NFL Network to air Senior Bowl

The NFL Network has acquired the rights to the Senior Bowl.

The game is played in Mobile, Ala., the week before the Super Bowl.