Seau offers assistance to New England

The New England Patriots have some injury problems at linebacker, have some needs to address right now, and Junior Seau says he’d like to help.

Just get back to him in a few months.

“I have my phone open in November and December for the Pats if they need help,” Seau told Sirius NFL Radio. “That’s about it. I’m not waiting for the call. I’m just letting them know that. They understand that if they need any help going further into the postseason or in the midst of December, which is a crucial time. . . . I’ll be able to look at it and we’ll assess that as that happens.”

Seau added, “This body can give you six games, but that’s about it.”

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Trivia time

How many original Major League Soccer franchises are still known by their original names?

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The right move

Sometimes the cliche about sports building character is accurate. Such was the case last week when two freshman football teams from high schools in Missouri arranged for a running back with Down syndrome to score a 65-yard touchdown.

Maryville was leading St. Joseph Benton, 46-0, with about 10 seconds left when the game was stopped so Benton Coach Dan McCamy could run across the field to ask Maryville’s defensive coach if he would give up a shutout to help a cause.

McCamy wanted to know if Maryville would allow 5-foot-3, 110-pound Matt Ziesel to score a touchdown on the game’s final play.

Maryville was quick to oblige, Ziesel chugged all the way down the right sideline and thanks to a YouTube video of the play, the teams were soon toasted throughout the region for sportsmanship and having their priorities in the right place.

“Its just amazing how one play can mean so much to one kid and then to a team and then to a community,” McCamy told the Kansas City Star. “And now it’s spread not just to the community of St. Joseph, but now it’s spread across the region. How something so simple can impact so many to me, that’s the amazing part about it.”

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Very heavy metal

Three Dallas Cowboys offensive linemen, Marc Colombo, Cory Procter and Leonard Davis, make up three-fourths of Free Reign, a heavy metal band.

“How heavy are they?” asked Gary Loewen of The Toronto Sun. “Well, Colombo, Procter and Davis weigh a combined 986 pounds.”

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Trivia answer

Five -- the Columbus Crew, D.C. United, New England Revolution, Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles Galaxy.

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And finally

From Reggie Hayes of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, on the new Nike sneaker inspired by Michael Jordan’s graceless Hall of Fame induction speech: “Air Grievances.”

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mike.penner@latimes.com