Sherman: Favre Will Be Back

Quarterback Brett Favre is returning to Green Bay for the 2005 season, Coach Mike Sherman told Associated Press.

The three-time most valuable player indicated in January he wanted to reflect before committing to playing a 15th NFL season after a year of personal tumult, which included his wife, Deanna, being diagnosed with breast cancer in October.

But Favre, 35, informed Sherman his wife was doing well in her cancer treatment.

The Packers also released two-time Pro Bowl safety Darren Sharper to trim $3.4 million off their salary cap.

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Free-agent receiver Plaxico Burress, who was courted by the New York Giants before they pulled a contract offer, will talk with the Minnesota Vikings.... The Denver Broncos matched the New York Jets’ offer to restricted free agent Jeb Putzier, agreeing to pay $12.5 million to keep the tight end for the next five seasons. The Broncos also are talking with quarterback Jeff Garcia.... The San Francisco 49ers signed kicker Joe Nedney to a one-year contract. The team is searching for a successor for Todd Peterson, who signed with the Atlanta Falcons.... The Oakland Raiders re-signed offensive lineman Ron Stone, a week after waiving him in a salary cap maneuver.

Jurisprudence

Washington Redskin safety Sean Taylor was cleared of all charges stemming from a traffic stop Oct. 28. A Fairfax (Va.) County circuit judge dismissed Taylor’s conviction on a charge of refusing to take a blood alcohol test, ruling there was no probable cause for the arrest.

Attorneys for former Carolina Panther receiver Rae Carruth returned to a Charlotte, N.C., court in an attempt to overturn his 2001 conviction in the slaying of his pregnant girlfriend. The appeal challenges the admission of key prosecution evidence during Carruth’s trial in late 2000.

Winter Sports

Michael Walchhofer won the World Cup downhill title after a fourth-place finish in the final race, and American Bode Miller stretched his lead for the overall title with a second-place showing behind Lasse Kjus at Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Renate Goetschl won the women’s event.

Rick Swenson, the only five-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, dropped out, the first time he has scratched from the 1,100-mile race in 29 years. Swenson told race managers he was concerned about the well-being of his dog team. Robert Sorlie was leading as the race neared the halfway point.

Golf

Chad Campbell overcame a slow start to shoot an eight-under-par 64 for a two-stroke lead after one round at the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Alone in second place at 66 was Brett Wetterich.

Pierre Fulke shot a six-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Qatar Masters at Doha, Qatar.

Miscellany

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Tuesday at 10 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi Church in La Quinta for Glenn Davis, former Heisman Trophy winner for Army’s national championship teams in the 1940s. Davis died Wednesday of complications of prostate cancer.

Burial will be March 18 at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

Before his death, Davis had requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alan Ameche Foundation, P.O. Box 978, Narberth, Pa., 19072.

World Boxing Council super lightweight champion Arturo Gatti and undefeated challenger Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight June 25 in Atlantic City, N.J.

The top-ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team defeated USC, 29-31, 30-25, 30-28, 30-27, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at USC. The Bruins are 18-2 overall and 13-2 in the MPSF. The Trojans are 5-17 and 1-13.

Dominik Marks became the second referee to be arrested in Germany’s match-fixing soccer scandal. He is accused of rigging three games and was being held on suspicion of fraud, plotting a crime and money laundering.