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Basically, you've just gotta love Junior Seau.

The enthusiasm that this 19-year veteran of the NFL has for the game is simply infectious, something that was discovered and embraced by members of Patriot Nation over the past three seasons. In fact, the time Seau has spent in New England, brief as it has been, has made dyed-in-the-wool Patriots' fans wish that the majority of his 16 previous campaigns had been spent here, and not in tropical paradises such as San Diego and Miami.

It's been assumed that at the close of each of the three seasons he's spent here, Seau was going to call it quits afterward. But the veteran linebacker surprised everyone when he returned from a broken forearm in 2006 to spend the entire 2007 season with the Patriots, all the way through 18 straight wins before his dream of bringing home a Super Bowl ring was dashed by the New York Giants.

Then late last year, with the Patriots' linebacking corps in shambles due to injuries, Seau leaped off his surfboard and right back into his No. 55 uniform for the last month the season. Despite having no training camp and no appreciable practice time before he was pressed into action on Dec. 7 at Seattle, Seau played quite well, finishing with 22 tackles in four games and a single-game high of nine in the season finale at Buffalo.

In each of the three seasons he's spent with the Flying Elvis on his helmet, he has been a significant contributor, and not just an aging warrior trying to cling to past glories. The fact that the guy is an absolute freak of nature helps; very few members of this species could be in the kind of shape at age 40 where he could step in and legitimately play for more than just a few snaps at a time. And lest we assume that his run is done and his next stop will be the Pro Football Hall of Fame in five years, think again.

Seau was interviewed on a San Diego sports radio station last week to promote a special event at his 14,500-square-foot restaurant, and he told the hosts that while he continued to enjoy the sun and surf and the time with his children, he would seriously consider a return to the NFL - and presumably the Patriots - "in November or October," as the need may arise.

Why, after 19 years of pounding, would he want to do that?

"Because you still can play the game," Seau said. "That's the only reason. I mean, to allow other decision-makers decide your fate when there's an opportunity, I think we're always going to hold on to that opportunity as long as we can. And it's not like we're hurting anyone. What I'm doing is basically just surfing and enjoying life with the kids and carrying on as if I am retired. But if they happen to need me towards the end of the season like they did last year, then I'll definitely look at it."

It reminded me of a scene within that same restaurant back in October. The Patriots were in San Diego to play the Chargers and Seau's was the site of a festive pre-game brunch. The special guest of honor was none other than the grand poobah of the Patriots, Robert Kraft, who came to the party to give Seau his AFC Championship ring (unfortunately, not the ring any of the Patriots wanted) and to extend an ongoing invitation to the veteran linebacker to return any time he liked - not knowing, of course, that the call would come in earnest two months later.

Kraft even gave a speech to the crowd at Seau's, some of which you'll be able to hear on a forthcoming edition of my "Blog Show." Standing on a portico overlooking the cavernous sports bar, he lauded Seau for his efforts to raise money in New England to help those displaced by a series of wildfires that struck San Diego earlier in the year.

The San Diegans in attendance gave Kraft a rousing round of applause for his kind comments. Somehow, I get the feeling that if Chargers' owner Alex Spanos gave a similar speech to a Patriot-partisan crowd a the CBS Scene, he would have been booed off the podium - although I hope not.

One interesting side issue to Seau's interest in returning if the Patriots need him is that this revelation comes at the same time that another former Patriots' linebacker, Willie McGinest, has been making overtures to the team to give him one last season in his old uniform. McGinest has spent the last three seasons with the Cleveland Browns after 12 years with the Patriots, so it's understandable why he might want a swan song here.

By all reports, McGinest has maintained a cordial relationship with Patriots' coach Bill Belichick. But the word I hear is that McGinest is more eager to return to the Patriots than they are to have him back. As they say in the Mob movies, it's not personal, it's business - the Patriots are going to make a solid commitment to young linebackers such as Jerod Mayo, Shawn Crable, Gary Guyton and Vince Redd, believing that they are more important in the team's long-range plans, and any aging veterans they add had better have a lot left in the tank to make it worth the cost of a roster spot.

The feeling here is that Seau, despite his age, is still a more viable option as an emergency replacement than McGinest because of what the former has shown on the field. Belichick is absolutely enamored with Seau (for good reason), and Seau has repeatedly said that if he does come back to the NFL, it will be only with the Patriots. McGinest was a productive player as a Patriot - more so in the latter stages of his career here because he discovered the ability to keep himself healthy and stay on the field. But now, it would be a shame if his overtures take on the same appearance as those made by Patrick Pass before the June minicamp. The former fullback called his old team looking for a tryout after being out of football for a year and Belichick obliged, but Pass was passed upon after just one workout.

Somehow, I get the feeling that will never happen to Junior Seau. He may have "graduated" from the Chargers and been let go by the Dolphins, but they both underestimated him. When the time comes that Seau knows he's done, I think he'll just take the phone off the hook and turn that surfboard into the next wave.

But that time hasn't come yet.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.