* Missouri native joins group bidding for Rams

* Former football commentator for ESPN

* Rams valued at $913 mln - Forbes (Adds background in last paragraph)

CHICAGO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh wants to own a National Football League team.

A spokesman for Limbaugh confirmed on Tuesday that the talk show host had said in a statement to KMOX Radio in St. Louis that he had joined a group trying to buy the St. Louis Rams.

The statement said that Limbaugh and Dave Checketts, owner of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues, would operate the football team, Limbaugh's producer, Kit Carson, confirmed.

The statement said Limbaugh would not discuss the bid further because of a confidentiality agreement with Goldman Sachs, which was hired by the family of former Rams owner Georgia Frontiere to review her estate.

A spokesman for Checketts declined to comment, but Checketts has acknowledged a desire to buy the Rams.

Last month, Forbes magazine valued the Rams at $913 million, ranking them 25th out of 32 NFL teams.

Limbaugh, one of the most highly paid figures in broadcast media, is a football fan who came close to landing a spot as a commentator on "Monday Night Football" on ABC in 2000.

Three years later, Limbaugh, who played football in high school, joined ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown."

After a month on the show, he resigned amid controversy after saying that the media wanted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to succeed because he is black.