As Super Bowl Nears, Cowboys Feel No Pressure

Nate Newton says there was more pressure on the Dallas Cowboys during the regular season than they’ll probably feel at the Super Bowl.

Newton says the Cowboys worked under smothering pressure throughout the regular season. The playoffs have been something of a relief, allowing the team to relax and play its best.

“We were the first ones to say in training camp that the Super Bowl was our goal,” Newton said. “The pressure started building up right there. Then the media came along and picked up on it and it got out of hand.”

Newton, a Pro Bowl offensive tackle, said winning big was the only acceptable outcome for each regular-season game.

“The wins weren’t good enough and the losses sure weren’t,” Newton said. “It’s amazing how everything we do gets blown up. It’s been a wild year. If we lost and were doing a radio talk show, then that was supposed to be the reason we lost. It was crazy.”

Newton, who has Super Bowl rings from the Cowboys’ two wins under Jimmy Johnson, said the team is solidly behind coach Barry Switzer.

“We believed in each other and we had high expectations and we pulled it off,” Newton said.

Haley misses practice

One day after returning to practice, Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley missed Friday’s workout.

The problem wasn’t his back, which caused him to miss the last six weeks while recovering from surgery. It was the flu.

Dallas is hoping to have Haley healthy for the Super Bowl in part because he was so effective the last time the Cowboys played Pittsburgh. Haley had four sacks in a 26-9 victory in this season’s opener.

Browns not for sale

Baltimore-bound Art Modell has reiterated the Cleveland Browns are not for sale.

“He’s not going to sell the team,” Modell spokesman David Hopcraft said in response to published reports about a possible deal involving the Browns, Modell and an expansion franchise for Baltimore.

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and the (Toledo) Blade reported Friday Modell indicated he would consider selling the Browns to allow them to stay in Cleveland if he received an expansion franchise in Baltimore.

The newspapers cited sources they did not identify in reporting on a closed-door meeting of owners Thursday in Atlanta.

“It was very casual in a freewheeling discussion,” Hopcraft said. “Art is not going to sell the team.”

Johnson continues to hire

Former Tampa Bay assistant Kippy Brown was hired by coach Jimmy Johnson as the Dolphins running backs coach.

Johnson remained in the market for a defensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Brown spent one season as running backs coach for the Buccaneers. He had previously coached wide receivers at the University of Tennessee.