PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT

The NFL has discussed the possibility with NBC and Fox of moving one conference championship game to prime time Jan. 15, if both California teams are the host team.

San Francisco is guaranteed the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, should the 49ers advance in the NFC. The San Diego Chargers could be the AFC host if they beat Miami on Sunday and Cleveland beats Pittsburgh on Saturday.

If both games were played during daytime hours, one would have to start at 10 a.m. PST, something the NFL would like to avoid.

Either NBC or Fox would be forced to preempt its Sunday prime-time schedule if the game has to be moved to evening, and either network would welcome such a change.

On Sunday night, NBC shows “Earth 2” and “seaQuest,” a couple of ratings busts. Fox’s Sunday prime-time schedule is due for a shakeup and would also benefit from football.

Fox’s all-time ratings record is an Oct. 11, 1990 episode of “The Simpsons,” which drew an 18.6. The NFC final, regardless of when it’s played, is certain to break that record.

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The University of Miami has given the Seattle Seahawks permission to talk to Dennis Erickson about Seattle’s vacant head coaching job, team president David Behring said. Denver and Philadelphia also are thought to be interested in Erickson. . . . Eagle owner Jeff Lurie returns from a Florida vacation today hoping to learn whether Dick Vermeil has agreed to run his team. Vermeil, who coached the Eagles to their only Super Bowl appearance after the 1980 season, is considering an offer to return to the team as its coach and general manager. ESPN and Philadelphia’s WTXF-TV said he has decided to come back. . . . ABC’s “Monday Night Football” ended its season with an average A.C. Nielsen rating of 17.8, the best in five years. . . . Denver Bronco owner Pat Bowlen plans to interview as many as six candidates for the team’s vacant head coaching job, including former Washington Redskin coach Joe Gibbs. . . . Green Bay safety George Teague was cited for illegally shooting a gun on Sunday, the second Packer player to be accused of welcoming 1995 with gunfire. Aaron Taylor, the Packers’ injured first-round draft pick, was jailed after allegedly firing pistols in the air New Year’s Eve. Police cited Teague after he fired eight rounds from a 9mm semiautomatic handgun into the air in his back yard at 12:07 a.m. Sunday, police said.