Schottenheimer Will Return in ’04

Marty Schottenheimer will return as the San Diego Chargers’ coach next year despite presiding over a free-fall in which the Chargers have lost 19 of their last 24 games.

Tired of answering questions from the media about his coach’s future, General Manager A.J. Smith said Tuesday that Schottenheimer will be back in 2004, his third season with the franchise.

“Absolutely,” Smith said. “He really needs more time, in my opinion. This is a terrific football coach and it’s not all on his shoulders. I need to get him more players and we need to attack this thing together. I’m very disappointed with what happened this year.”

The Chargers (3-12) are tied with Arizona for the NFL’s worst record. If they lose at home to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, the Chargers will clinch the top pick in the draft.

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Quarterback Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers went home to Mississippi, hours after playing one of his best games while still struggling with his father’s unexpected death.

Packer Coach Mike Sherman juggled his schedule so that he could attend Irvin Favre’s funeral today in Pass Christian, Miss. Backup quarterback Doug Pederson and his wife, Jeannie, close friends of the Favres, will travel with Sherman.

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Joe Namath apologized to ESPN reporter Suzy Kolber for his comments during Saturday night’s New England Patriot-New York Jet game.

“Joe apologized, I accepted, it’s over,” Kolber said after the Hall of Fame quarterback phoned her.

Namath, at the Meadowlands for the Jets’ announcement of their Four-Decade Team, twice told Kolber he wanted to kiss her while she was interviewing him on the sideline.

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Pittsburgh Steeler chairman Dan Rooney is unhappy that Giants Stadium personnel wasn’t better equipped to remove snow that fell before and during the Steelers’ 6-0 loss to the New York Jets on Dec. 14.

“When we played in New York, they didn’t have anybody there to do the job,” Rooney said. “We’ll call up hundreds of kids to come out, shovel and do [cleanup work]. We have all the equipment. They only had one plow. It was really bad, one plow.”

New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority Chief Executive George Zoffinger said Rooney’s comments were “just wrong.”

“He lost the game,” Zoffinger said. “He shouldn’t go crying about the snow.”

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Receiver Joe Horn will sit out the New Orleans Saints’ final game against the Dallas Cowboys because of a separated shoulder.