Green Bay Packers: Packers receiver Donald Driver expects to be catching passes from a different quarterback next season.
Driver said in an interview on Sirius NFL Radio on Tuesday that he believes Brett Favre will decide to retire, rather than return for another NFL season.
"I don't think so," Driver said on "The Opening Drive" show with Dan Reeves and Chris Moore, which airs on the satellite pay radio service. "Everyone has been asking me that question. He's a real close friend of mine and we've been talking back and forth, and I think he's pretty much going to hang 'em up. I always told him, if you're coming back just because of that playoff game, don't show up. But if you're going to come back to try and win another Super Bowl, we'd love to have you."
The playoff game Driver was referring to was the Packers' 31-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 9, ending Green Bay's playoff run this season.
Driver thinks Favre has already made his decision -- though Favre has yet to announce one publicly -- and that the Packers' request to know his intentions before the NFL draft in late April tipped the scales toward his leaving.
"I think he was trying to wait until the draft, and I think coach [Mike] Sherman wanted to know right before free agency because there are a couple of quarterback free agents that they want to look at if Brett decided not to come back," Driver said in the interview. "I think they forced him to make a decision. When you force one of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL to make a decision, he's pretty much going to let you know that he maybe is just hanging 'em up."
Driver later reiterated his comments on Favre in comments to WTMJ Radio, but added he hadn't spoken to the quarterback in about a month.
Carolina Panthers: Linebacker Mark Fields,
who missed the 2003 season while battling Hodgkin's disease, has
been added to the Pro Bowl roster, the team announced Tuesday.
Fields, who was designated as a first alternate, replaces Tampa
Bay's Derrick Brooks. Brooks will miss the Feb. 13 all-star game
with a knee injury.
Fields is the fourth Panthers player on the NFC roster, joining
wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, linebacker Dan Morgan and defensive
end Julius Peppers. He had 60 tackles, four sacks and an
interception.
Fields was a Pro Bowl selection in 2000 while with New Orleans.
New England Patriots: Linebacker Tedy Bruschi was added to the Pro Bowl roster for the first
time, replacing injured Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis.
Bruschi is the fifth Patriots player on the AFC roster, joining
Tom Brady, Larry Izzo, Richard Seymour and Adam Vinatieri for the
Feb. 13 game in Hawaii.
Bruschi, 31, is a nine-year veteran who was selected as the
AFC's Defensive Player of the Week three times, including the
first-round playoff victory over the Indianapolis Colts. A second
team Associated Press All-Pro selection, he ranked second on the
team with 128 tackles and tied for second with three interceptions.
Two of the Patriots' four defensive touchdowns resulted from his
fumbles.
Manning, Cowher, Roethlisberger honored
Peyton Manning, who threw a record 49 touchdown
passes this season, was chosen NFL player of the
year for the second straight season by The Sporting News.
Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher earned coach of the year honors and
Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was picked as rookie of
the year.
Denver Broncos: The club hired former Green Bay
defensive coordinator Bob Slowik as defensive backs coach.
Slowik was the Packers' secondary coach from 2000 to 2003 until
becoming defensive coordinator last season.
He previously served as defensive coordinator for the Cleveland
Browns and Chicago Bears. He also coached at East Carolina,
Rutgers, Drake, Florida and Delaware.
Brewster hired as tight ends coach: The club hired Tim Brewster as its tight
ends coach, the team announced Monday.
Brewster is a former San Diego Chargers assistant coach who is
credited with helping nurture tight end Antonio Gates to All-Pro
honors and a Pro Bowl trip in his second year of football since
high school, the team said in a statement.
Brewster served as the Chargers' tight ends coach from 2002-04
and as that team's assistant head coach last season.
Kansas City Chiefs: Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Eric Crouch and a dozen other players in the club's system
have been assigned to NFL Europe.
Former Chiefs safety Scott Connot and linebacker Rich Scanlon
also are headed across the Atlantic, the team said. They
are the only two players among the group who played on Kansas
City's active roster last season.
NFL Europe teams play a 10-game season that starts in April.
Last season, 229 NFL players played on the six European teams, 15
of them from the Chiefs. Crouch won the Heisman in 2001 at
Nebraska.
San Francisco 49ers: Former New York Jets assistant Jim
Hostler was hired as the quarterbacks coach Monday.
Hostler coached the Jets' receivers this past season and the
quarterbacks in 2003. He was an offensive assistant with Kansas
City (2000) and New Orleans (2001-02), where he worked with new
49ers offensive coordinator Mike McCarthy.
Dallas Cowboys: An agreement completed Monday by the
city of Arlington and the club would keep the team there
for at least 30 years.
Mayor Robert Cluck said this is the latest milestone in the move
of the Cowboys from Texas Stadium in Irving to a planned $650
million stadium in Arlington.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on the final agreement,
which includes lease terms, Feb. 8. Cowboys officials are expected
to sign the documents next week.
Cluck said the agreement released to the public Monday differs
little from the one approved by the council last summer.