Cowboys Kick Off A Grass-Roots Campaign
Emmitt Smith should be running on grass in Texas Stadium by 1997.
At least that’s what Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones promised Tuesday, saying, “there will be grass, make no mistake about it.”
The NFL’s leading rusher was injured trying to make a cut on the slick artificial Texas Stadium turf in the third quarter of a 24-12 victory over Kansas City on Thanksgiving Day. Smith, who sprained his left knee, still could play on Sunday against the Washington Redskins.
His near-miss sent shudders through the organization.
“There is a concern (about the turf) because we don’t have the traction that should be out there,” Jones said. “The turf is worn out enough that we’re pushing the envelope. The turf is too slick.”
Jones said he hoped construction would begin at the end of the 1996 season to lower the field by 15 feet and plant grass. He also wants a retractable roof.
“I think grass is safer and I like the aura of it,” Jones said. “You go to ice hockey games to see play on an artificial surface. You go to a football game to see a game on grass. We want it (grass) in there and I hope we’ll have the grass surface ready to go by 1997.”
A second chance
Not knowing whether he was going to live or die has had a profound effect on Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy. So don’t be surprised to see Levy smiling a bit more than usual these days.
“I might have taken for granted everything I’ve done as a God-given right,” says Levy, who underwent surgery for prostate cancer in October and missed three games.
“I’m a football coach and I’m going to immerse my whole life into it, but while winning and losing is just as important, it’s not going to command me so much that I’m not aware of what I’ve survived and what other people might be grappling with. Football is not the only thing in the world that exists, and I might be feeling a little mellower.”
The good news for Levy is that doctors say his prognosis is excellent, and that he should be able to coach as long as he likes.
“I’m more energized now,” Levy said. “My energy came back quickly. Part of the energizing process is hearing your doctor say, ‘I think we got it all out of you.”’
Suite dreams
For a price, pro football fans in Tennessee can sit in “dream seats,” perhaps in a “dream suite,” in a stadium that right now is just a dream.
Nashville plans to build the stadium to lure the Houston Oilers. But to do that, at least $71.5 million worth of permanent seat licenses must be sold by Feb. 15.
Otherwise, a $292.1 million deal between Mayor Phil Bredesen and Oilers owner Bud Adams falls apart.
The money will help build the 65,000-seat stadium by 1998. The Ingram Group, a public relations company, will handle the sale of luxury suites (“dream suites”) and PSLs (“dream seats”). Fans must apply for PSLs, which allow buyers to purchase season tickets for as long as the team plays there.
“People have been confusing this with college, where every year you have to make a donation before you can buy season tickets,” said Mike Kopp, an Ingram executive. “This is a one-time deal.”
Those PSLs also give buyers the first right of refusal to tickets to other events at the stadium.
Around the league
The Green Bay Packers, looking for a backup to quarterback Brett Favre, claimed Jim McMahon on waivers from Cleveland… . Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley will not support a domed stadium on the lakefront to keep the Bears in town even if the team rejects his proposed renovation plan for Soldier Field… . Former Patriots owner William H. Sullivan, back in federal court with his four-year-old antitrust case against the NFL, found himself accused of lying on the witness stand when NFL lawyers accused the 80-year-old of perjury during questioning in Boston on Monday.