Peete Expresses Desire for Team

Rodney Peete played for six NFL teams.

Now, he wants to own one.

Peete, the former USC quarterback, has been engaged in discussions recently with billionaire investor Ron Burkle and real-estate magnate Ed Roski about being three-way owners of an NFL franchise in Los Angeles.

“It would be unbelievable,” said Peete, 39, who retired this year after 16 seasons in pro football.

“There is nothing I’d rather do than be part of an NFL franchise in L.A.”

Peete said the three have not put an agreement to paper, nor has he had anything more than informal conversations with NFL officials about the arrangement.

The NFL, which has not had a team in the L.A. area since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season, has long said it intends to be back in the nation’s No. 2 television market. But it remains to be seen how serious the league is about that. The past decade has been marked by a series of false starts and dashed hopes.

The league’s most recent flirtation has been with the Coliseum, although it has left open the idea of new stadiums at Anaheim and the Rose Bowl. The NFL intends to present team owners with all the information they need on the various sites by spring 2006, enabling them to move forward on a plan if they desire.

Peete is well aware of the glacial nature of the process, one that seems to slide backward as much as it moves forward. He said he’s also intrigued by the notion of being the first African-American owner of an NFL franchise. “If it does look like something’s going to happen in L.A.,” he said, “I’ll be right in the mix.”

-- Sam Farmer

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New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi is working toward a return to the Patriots -- this season, not next -- thanks to a faster-than-expected recovery from the stroke that sent him to the emergency room only days after playing in his first Pro Bowl.

Several obstacles remain: Bruschi has received favorable reports from doctors but not final medical clearance, and others involved in the decision -- including the team’s lawyers and Bruschi’s family -- have not signed off on it.

Bruschi said this summer he had no intention of coming back for the 2005 season. But the speed of his rehabilitation has made it possible for him to accelerate his schedule.

“Anybody we can get back to this football team at this point would help us, regardless of who it is,” linebacker Mike Vrabel said. “Whoever we can have back, we’ll take back.”

Bruschi is eligible to return from the physically unable to perform list after the sixth week of the season.

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Ben Roethlisberger apparently won’t be the only key member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense on the sideline for Sunday’s game against Jacksonville. Four-time Pro Bowl receiver Hines Ward may be there too.

Roethlisberger resumed practicing after he hyperextended his left knee Monday night in San Diego, but the quarterback missed part of the workout and remains doubtful.

Tommy Maddox is expected to make his first start since the 2004 regular-season finale against Buffalo.

Ward missed practice for the third consecutive day because of a hamstring injury he aggravated against the Chargers.

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Baltimore Raven cornerback Chris McAlister and receiver Derrick Mason were fined $5,000 apiece by the NFL for unsportsmanlike conduct against the Detroit Lions.... Jacksonville Jaguar running back Fred Taylor, who has a sprained right ankle, vowed to play Sunday against Pittsburgh, while the team said it would wait until kickoff to make a decision.... Jaguar defensive end Paul Spicer left the team after his brother was shot to death in Indianapolis.... Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair was added to the Titans’ injury report because of back spasms and was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati.