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Monday, July 28, 1997

Cowboys, El Paso have a future, owner says, but declines to commit

By EDUARDO MONTES Associated Press Writer

EL PASO, Texas (AP) - The Dallas Cowboys' relationship with El Paso, a town that seems to love them even through the tough times, is just in its infancy, said team owner Jerry Jones.

But Jones wasn't saying what kind of eventual union he had in mind as he stood on the Sun Bowl turf Saturday while his team prepared to take the field for a controlled scrimmage against the San Diego Chargers.

The civic leaders who organized the game, the centerpiece of a daylong party for the city's football fans, hope to eventually bring an exhibition game or a week of training camp to El Paso.

Jones seemed to suggest the organizers had scored by drawing more than 40,000 people Saturday to what turned out to be a Cowboys 9-3 victory. A sellout crowd of 51,118 attended the 1996 scrimmage against the Houston Oilers.

"This is a phenomenal thing," Jones said. "It gets the job done in a way that it needs to to influence my future decisions."

Just what fans hoped to hear.

"This is a nice way of sending Jerry Jones a message that El Paso is supporting the Cowboys," said Mike Adjemian, who was among the many self-proclaimed diehards who paid between $10 and $110 to attend.

"I think we should have more," added Julian Flores. "It's fun just to see them. If the Cowboys came here to warm up I'd bet they'd fill half the stadium."

That remains to be seen. Ticket sales were slower this year despite a post-game concert and other events added to the evening. Event organizers acknowledged that was likely because some of the novelty had worn off. But they said they weren't disappointed.

Jones said much the same.

"I don't know how you get disappointed when you see something happening that has never happened (before) in the NFL," he said.

Coach Barry Switzer said the game had been good for the team, which is trying to get back on track for another Super Bowl run after a subpar 1996 season.

Tight end Eric Bjornson agreed.

"I think it was good we had the opportunity to go against someone else after going against each other (in practice) all week," he said.