He Enjoys Cashing In on This Good Deed

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are off this week, so receiver Keyshawn Johnson returned to Los Angeles to check on his business holdings. CBS’ Lesley Visser also came to L.A. to do a feature on Johnson for Sunday’s edition of “The NFL Today.”

Johnson and his partners in the Keyshawn Capital Development Co. have committed $140 million to developing businesses in South-Central Los Angeles. Called the Marlton Project, it will include housing, retail stores and community services. It is scheduled to be completed in two years.

Johnson, a Dorsey High graduate, is interested in helping the community, but he also is a shrewd businessman.

“I’m not a nonprofit foundation,” Johnson told Visser. “I expect to make money.”

The landlord: One of Magic Johnson’s Starbucks is in a commercial complex at Western and Slauson called Chesterfield Square, which is owned by Keyshawn Johnson and his business partners.

“Can you believe I’m Magic’s landlord?” Johnson told Visser.

Trivia time: Keyshawn Johnson ranks third on USC’s all-time pass receiving list in receptions (168) and yardage (2,796). Who ranks ahead of him?

The real winner: Frank Kyte, a research scientist of geophysics and planetary physics at UCLA, makes an excellent point with this e-mail: “I’d say it’s the Pac-10 that gets the lucky break with USC and Oregon not playing each other. Now they’ve got a shot at two teams in the BCS playoffs.”

Even better: Reader Chris Mora says: “As a Southern California Oregon Duck fan, I feel that it is my civic duty to remind all USC fans that they shouldn’t give up hope so early. USC and Oregon may still end up playing -- for the national championship in New Orleans.”

Eagle eye: Cris Carter thinks he knows what is wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles. “When you move into a new stadium, it is like when you move into a new house,” he said on HBO’s “Inside the NFL” Wednesday night. “You need new furniture. Donovan McNabb needs some new furniture. Those weapons he has are old. They shouldn’t have been brought to the new house.”

Missing the drama: Tuesday was a huge night for baseball -- exciting games, drama in Boston, Oakland and Miami, and the Yankees clinching in Chicago. So what games were on ESPN? None. Instead, viewers got another episode of “Playmakers.”

Trivia answer: Kareem Kelly is No. 1 in catches with 204 and No. 2 in yards with 3,104; Johnnie Morton is No. 1 in yardage with 3,201 and No. 2 in catches with 201.

And finally: Notre Dame is no longer a prime-time player. Dick Weiss of the New York Daily News, aware that ESPN is airing a weekly diary of the Notre Dame season, wrote: “The first entry was shown Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. [Eastern]. Last week, after the Irish lost to Michigan, 38-0, the show was moved to midnight.

“This week, after a 22-16 loss to Michigan State, we could see it appearing sometime after the 2 a.m. ‘SportsCenter.’ ”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.