National Football League

LB Junior Seau rejoins Patriots

Published Oct. 13, 2009 8:55 p.m. ET

foxsports

Junior Seau is back with the New England Patriots, coming out of retirement for a third time to sign a contract on Tuesday for a 20th season as an NFL linebacker. The signing of the 12-time Pro Bowl player was announced by Versus, the television network on which Seau has a show. The Patriots have not announced the signing, which had been expected, although the team said he had a physical and a workout last week. "I hope at some point he will be" with the Patriots, club owner Robert Kraft said at the NFL owners meeting in Boston. "He's a unique individual. I'd love to have him part of our team for as long as he wants to." Seau, 40, should have a better chance of standing up to running backs than he did to a rodeo bull, which knocked him down on one of the episodes of "Sports Jobs with Junior Seau." He came out of retirement last year to play the final four games with the Patriots after playing 27 games with them in 2006 and 2007. A week before New England began its 2009 season, Seau said that would be the only team he'd consider playing for and would be willing to play up to six games. The Patriots, who have a record of 3-2, have 11 games left. "I'm very fortunate and honored to be involved with two class organizations - the New England Patriots and Versus," Seau said Tuesday on the network's web site. "I want to thank the management of both for making my return to the NFL with the New England Patriots a reality." His return to the Patriots won't affect his role as host of the 10-episode series starting in December, Versus president Jamie Davis said.