No kiss, but Namath tries to make up

"Joe apologized, I accepted, it's over," Kolber said after the Hall of Fame quarterback phoned her.

Namath, at the Meadowlands for the Jets' announcement of their Four-Decade Team, twice told Kolber he wanted to kiss her while she was interviewing him on the sideline.

Asked by Kolber about what the team's struggles meant to him, Namath replied: "I want to kiss you" and leaned toward her.

He added he believed the team would come back next season with Chad Pennington available to play quarterback all year.

Namath capped off the interview by repeating: "I want to kiss you."

Kolber responded to Namath's comments by saying "Thanks, Joe. A huge compliment" and turned things back to the announcers in the booth.

Namath serves as a goodwill ambassador for the Jets.

Schottenheimer stays

Marty Schottenheimer will return as coach of the San Diego Chargers next year even though they've lost 19 of their last 24 games. Tired of speculation about Schottenheimer's future, general manager A.J. Smith said Schottenheimer will return for his third year with the Chargers. San Diego is 3-12 and tied with Arizona for the NFL's worst record . . . Three-time Pro Bowl tackle Lincoln Kennedy, 32, of the Raiders is retiring, ending his career after an injury-plagued 11th season. The offensive right tackle, who has played through knee problems, a torn left calf, and a variety of other injuries this season, limped off the field during the fourth quarter of Monday night's loss to Green Bay. He is not expected to play Sunday against the Chargers . . . Joe Horn will miss the Saints' final game against the Cowboys with a separated shoulder. The wide receiver, fined for pulling a cellphone from the goal post padding after a touchdown two weeks ago, was hurt in New Orleans's 20-19 loss to the Jaguars Sunday. Coach Jim Haslett said the injury probably will not require surgery . . . Kick returner Michael Bates was waived by the Jets, who had placed him on injured reserve Nov. 11 with a hand injury.

Favre heads home

Brett Favre went home to Mississippi, hours after playing one of the best games of his career despite the unexpected death of his father the day before. Packers coach Mike Sherman juggled his schedule so that he, too, could attend Irvin Favre's funeral today at St. Paul Catholic Church in Pass Christian, Miss. Assistant head coach Bob Slowik will run practice in Sherman's absence as the Packers (9-6) prepare to host Denver (10-5) in a crucial game that could determine if Green Bay makes the playoffs. The Packers have a short week because of their game Monday night at Oakland, when Favre had the best passer rating of his career in a 41-7 rout of the Raiders. He threw for 399 yards, three shy of his career high, and four touchdowns and finished with a career-best passer rating of 154.9 . . . The game did an 11.1 rating, giving ABC an 11.5 average rating for the season, up 1 percent from last year's 11.4 and the first year-to-year increase for the program since 1994. In Boston, Monday's game did an 8.7 rating, consistent with this market's tendency to track a few points below the national number for "Monday Night Football" unless, of course, the Patriots are involved.

Bill Griffith of the Globe staff contributed to this report.