Friday, August 16, 1996

Cowboys special teams are a "hodgepodge"

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Special teams used to be a luxury the Dallas Cowboys could afford.
But with the bulk of the team's salary cap dollars going to players like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders, special teams have gone from luxury to leftovers.

"If you can't afford a standout special teamer, then you have to go with a lot of young guys who are untried and untested," said special teams coach Joe Avezzano, who has spent most of training camp shaking his head.

In Monday night's 31-7 preseason loss to New England, the Cowboys gave up a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Hason Graham. There have been fumbled punts and numerous blown coverages.

Avezzano said Thursday he hasn't been impressed by any new faces at camp outside of rookie linebacker Randall Godfrey of Georgia.

"I don't have any real preferences right now," Avezzano said. "We just still have a hodgepodge of people. Randall has looked promising and other than that, we are throwing them up in the air and seeing who lands on their feet."

Godfrey, who made the special teams play of the preseason against New England when he took out three players on one kickoff, said he's trying to carve a niche for himself.

"I'm going to have to contribute a lot on special teams, and I guess I'm kind of made for it," Godfrey said. "Any time you play linebacker, you have to be physical and more aggressive than your opponents."

Special teams captain Bill Bates, who is beginning his 14th year, said if the rookies and free agents fighting for a spot on the team don't improve their special teams play, starters will get the call.

"If the backups don't play well, we'll have some starters out there," Bates said, smiling. "Coach Avezzano is going to have the best players out there he can get. There are some starters cheering for those backups, so they don't have to play."

Bates said he misses former special teams stars like Kenny Gant, Matt Vanderbeek and Darrick Brownlow, who played on the Cowboys' Super Bowl teams in 1992 and 1993 but became unaffordable in the era of free agency.

"It puts more pressure on myself and a couple of the other guys because you feel like you have to make plays," Bates said. "But that's OK because I've been doing that my whole career."

Avezzano said he doesn't waste time complaining about the fact that he has to form his kick and punt units out of the backups that make the roster.

"Our situation won't change," Avezzano said. "I can complain, but it doesn't take long to remember we've won three out of four championships, and I wouldn't want to ever go into a ballgame without our top-paid guys. I've got to deal with our situation and that's fine, I'll deal with it."

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