Thursday, May 16, 1996

Kevin Williams looking for big year as contract nears end

IRVING - Kevin Williams, entering his second season as a starter, will be a free agent after the 1996 season.

But that's not the only reason, he wants to have a big year.

"I'm a little tired of people saying things about me," said Williams, a Roosevelt High School graduate. "I can play the game. I'm not in the NFL by accident, but every year I hear the same question, 'Can he play'?

"I work hard and you want to improve every year, but this year is important, because I want to be in the best possible condition, so I can make plays, so I'll have something to take to the table."

At the end of last season, Williams proved he could play an important role in the Cowboys' offense.
His diving, fingertip catch against the Giants on third-and-10 set up Chris Boniol's game-winning field goal on the final play. He followed that game with a career-high nine catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns against Phoenix.

Williams caught 20 passes for 249 yards in the first 12 games. He caught 18 passes for 364 yards in the last four games.

Williams credits Michael Irvin for his slow start. Irvin had a career year with 111 catches for 1,603 yards and 10 touchdowns.

"Michael was performing at a record pace, so teams had to change what they were doing to us," Williams said. "They started paying more attention to Michael and giving me more single coverage. When I get single coverage, I have to beat it."

Receivers coach Hubbard Alexander said he wasn't surprised with the season Williams had.
"He just did what he had to do when the opportunity presented itself," Alexander said. "Kevin has been a contributor to this team and he will continue to be. There's not going to be any debate about our starting receivers this year."

Deion Sanders said his phone has been ringing a lot lately. Many of the calls have come from baseball teams.

"I had one team call and say they would let me off Saturday and Sunday to play football as long as I was with them the rest of the week," he said. "But I made a commitment to the Cowboys, and I'm sticking with it.

"The time away from baseball has been everything I thought it would be. I have no urge to get back into the game."

Sanders, who is not playing baseball for the first time since 1988, has practiced almost exclusively at receiver.

"I've learned a lot," he said. "This is my first camp in quite a long time, and it has been wonderful."

Coach Barry Switzer said the progress of cornerback Kevin Smith was one of the bright spots of the Cowboys' recently completed Quarterback School.

Smith took part in a few team drills as he continues to recover from a ruptured Achilles' tendon he sustained in the 1995 season opener against New York.

"The best thing is that he hasn't had any setbacks or digressed at all," Switzer said. "A lot of times when you're coming back from an injury like he had there are some complications but he hasn't had any."

(c) 1996, Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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