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Texas NFL Capsules: Cowboys give WR Miles Austin long-awaited new deal
IRVING (AP) — Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin is going deep with the Dallas Cowboys — from undrafted rookie to a breakout season and now a long-term contract extension.
The Cowboys and Austin agreed to a six-year extension through the 2016 season on Thursday, just three days before the fifth-year player's first season opener as a starter.
"My career started here, you guys gave me a shot and obviously I put my all out there every day," said Austin, who was pulled out of offensive meetings for the unexpected yet unsurprising announcement. "It feels great to be wanted by this team because I want to be here."
Austin agreed a $3.168 million one-year contract in June, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had repeatedly said he wanted to sign the receiver to a long-term deal. That finally got done just before the season opener at Washington.
Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones would only confirm the length of the extension, not the financial terms. Austin's agent, David Dunn, didn't return messages to The Associated Press.
A story posted Thursday night on the Cowboys' official team website said the extension was worth about $54 million. That is on top of the deal for this season.
In his first career start last October at Kansas City, Austin had 10 catches for a team-record 250 yards and two late touchdowns, including the 60-yard game-winner in overtime. He broke the single-game yardage record held by Hall of Fame receiver "Bullet Bob" Hayes since 1966.
That was quite a breakout performance for Austin, who entered that game with 23 career catches, including five in the first four games last season.
Yet, he wasn't a one-game wonder.
His encore was six catches for 171 yards and two more TDs in Dallas' next game. He went on to earn a spot in the Pro Bowl by finishing the season with 81 catches for 1,320 yards, sixth-best in team history and the sixth-best by any undrafted receiver ever in the NFL.
The Cowboys certainly don't anticipate the 26-year-old receiver from tiny Monmouth College in New Jersey being only a one-year wonder either.
"We all are familiar and admire the way Miles has evolved into the player he is today. We're also very impressed with the person that he is," Jones said. "I've never felt like when we have made this kind of commitment to any individual that we've ever been as prepared or better informed about what he is as a player and as a person. That's a good feeling and made this very comfortable in terms of getting this done.
"He's what we want to build our franchise around," Jones said.
The Cowboys already had quarterback Tony Romo, who like Austin came into the league as an undrafted free agent, signed to a long-term contract along with linebacker DeMarcus Ware, tight end Jason Witten and nose tackle Jay Ratliff. All are Pro Bowl players.
Stephen Jones said it was important to get Austin's deal done before the start of the new season, though he said "it happened in short order" once negotiations really began after the team return from training camp in Oxnard, Calif., about two weeks ago.
"The big thing we needed to do was just get our hands around all the uncertainties that are out there," Stephen Jones said, referring to pending NFL negotiations with the players' union. "At the end of the day we knew were going to have Miles and we were going to figure out how to make that work."
Coach Wade Phillips said Austin continued to work hard during the offseason and into preseason workouts even though the contract situation had to be on his mind. And the coach isn't concerned about Austin's quick ascension from virtual unknown to Pro Bowl player with a long-term contract in less than a year's time.
"I am confident in Miles. Yeah, he's only done it one year, but what a year," Phillips said. "He's shown so many things. He had the greatest game in Cowboys history. That's pretty strong. It not like a guy who just had a good year. He had a tremendous year, and he had tremendous games that nobody's had before. I think that's part of the confidence.
"He's such a hard worker, he is a great athlete and he's learned how to pull it all together. I think that will continue."
Cowboys OL Colombo, Kosier miss practice again
IRVING (AP) — Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys running backs likely will be depending on two backup offensive linemen to block for them in the season opener Sunday night at Washington.
Starting linemen Marc Colombo and Kyle Kosier, who sustained knee injuries during training camp, missed practice again Thursday after also being out Wednesday.
"That makes their chances slimmer that would play this weekend," coach Wade Phillips said after Thursday's practice. "We have not ruled them out, but it does make them slimmer as far as those guys are concerned."
The Cowboys have veteran backups at both positions who have been working with the starting offense this week. Alex Barron has been at right tackle for Colombo, and Montrae Holland at left guard for Kosier, and they will likely start against the Redskins.
"We have a lot of confidence in both Barron and Holland," Phillips said. "They have worked well all along. They are looking forward to this opportunity. They have both started, had some good games. They have shown they can play in the National Football League. I think they want to show they can play for the Dallas Cowboys."
Holland signed a two-year contract in the offseason to stay with Dallas after being inactive every game last season. He started only two of the eight games he played in 2008 after the Cowboys acquired him from Denver, where he started all 16 games at right guard in 2007.
Dallas acquired Barron from St. Louis this summer in a swap of underachieving former first-round picks. Linebacker Bobby Carpenter was sent to the Rams, and released at the end of training camp.
Barron played in 76 games for St. Louis, all but two of them starts, and looks forward to his chance with the Cowboys.
"This is a great opportunity for me to go out and show what I can do to help the team," Barron said. "My confidence is high. ... It feels pretty normal. Being a starter is a good experience."
With Barron and Holland likely to start, that means the Cowboys will open the season with three different starting linemen than last year. Doug Free has taken over for expensive five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Flozell Adams, who was cut during the offseason.
Unchanged are center Andre Gurode and right guard Leonard Davis, though Romo doesn't sound too worried.
"We have a lot of confidence in the guys that are stepping up. They
-- Stephen Hawkins
Dallas Cowboys aim to bust Super Bowl host jinx
ARLINGTON (AP) — The Super Bowl used to be a simple enough event that NFL owners could decide in the spring where to put next season's championship game.
It was that way in 1971, when the Dallas Cowboys showed up to the league meetings hoping to lure the game to their new state-of-the-art stadium.
Then Oakland's Al Davis reminded his AFC peers that Dallas had just played in the Super Bowl. Giving them the next Super Bowl, he warned, could mean sending one of their teams to Texas Stadium for the title game. That spurred a push for Miami, which had hosted three of the first five Super Bowls.
On the 12th vote, Dallas was still ahead, but not by enough to seal it. So owners gave up and went with New Orleans. Guess which teams wound up meeting there? Yep, the Cowboys and Dolphins.
Nearly 40 years later, that's still about as close as any team has come to playing a Super Bowl on its home field.
Call it a Super Bowl jinx or call it a fluke. The bottom line is the same: 37 Super Bowls have been held in an NFL stadium and never has the home team been involved.
The next championship is being held at Cowboys Stadium, and Jerry Jones has made no secret of wanting his 'boys to break the streak. With their season kicking off Sunday night in Washington, here are some details of how much history they're up against:
— Only five would-be Super Bowl hosts have even made the playoffs. The 1994 Miami Dolphins were the only division winners; the rest (the Dolphins in '70, '78 and '98; and Tampa Bay in 2000) got in as wild cards.
— That handful of hosts has won just two playoff games, one each by the '94 and '98 Dolphins.
— Because both wins came in the wild-card round and were followed by losses, no host has even reached the league championship game.
"Hmmmm," Jones said. "Goodness."
Jones didn't realize the numbers were so ugly, but he has several explanations to take the edge off the 0-for-37. (Of the 44 Super Bowl, seven were played in NFL markets, but not NFL stadiums.)
Jones noted the teams that have played in the most Super Bowls — Dallas, Pittsburgh, New England and Denver — haven't been eligible to host because they have cold weather and outdoor stadiums. Texas Stadium came close in '71 because it hadn't opened and folks were told the partial roof would keep out the elements more than it really did. Once the myth was exposed, the Cowboys never had a chance until building the new stadium with a real roof.)
Then there's the reverse of that theory — Super Bowl sites are warm-weather cities or domed stadium, and those kinds of teams do not routinely play for the championship. Various clubs make it now and again, but they haven't been fortunate enough to match the years they dominate with the years they host.
"Luck of the draw," said Dick Anderson, a starting safety in three Super Bowls with the Dolphins in the 1970s and head of Miami's host committee for the game following the 1988 season.
He's also has been to the last 19 Super Bowls as part of the Taste of the NFL fundraiser, so he comes to this topic with plenty of experience. And with a good point: Only two of 32 teams play in the Super Bowl, and only one of 32 can host. Getting those to overlap should be rare.
"Sooner or later, it may happen," he said.
There's another tidbit that fuels the jinx theory, and that's what happened in those seven Super Bowls played at non-NFL stadiums.
Twice, the local club made it: the Los Angeles Rams, who lost to the Steelers at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., in the game following the 1979 season; and the San Francisco 49ers, who beat the Dolphins to cap the '84 season at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif.
Notice how the Dolphins keep coming up? Well, they should.
Miami has hosted the championship 10 times, most of all clubs. The Dolphins also have played in the game five times, trailing only the quartet of cold-weather sites mentioned previously. They are tied with the 49ers, Raiders and Redskins for fifth-most appearances in league history.
Timing is everything, though, and they just haven't had it.
Miami hosted Super Bowls following the 1967, '68, '70 and '75 seasons, and the Bob Griese-led clubs played in Super Bowls following the '71, '72 and '73 seasons.
"Bookends," Anderson said, laughing.
David Woodley guided the Dolphins back in '82, then Dan Marino in '84. Alas, Miami was in its midst of its longest gap between host stints (1978-88).
The second-most popular site is New Orleans, with nine.
New Orleans was the easy compromise candidate in '71 not because of Bourbon Street, but because the Saints were so lousy that everyone knew they wouldn't be contenders. They were doormats most every year before winning it all last season. They're also a big reason those 37 host teams are a combined 240-327-4, just a .424 winning percentage.
The 2010 Cowboys are the ninth team going into their Super Bowl host year coming off a trip to the playoffs. They are the rare host team going into the season with realistic Super Bowl dreams.
Roger Staubach is certainly hoping they pull it off.
Staubach was part of four Super Bowl teams for the Cowboys, winning twice. He was the MVP of that game at New Orleans, which also was Dallas' first Super Bowl title. Now he's the chairman of the committee overseeing the upcoming Super Bowl.
He thinks it would be a great claim to fame for the 45th edition if this was the jinx buster. He laughs off the notion that a hometown team would lessen the economic impact, counting on the wide appeal of "America's Team" to more than make up for it.
"I think it would add to the excitement, make it more fun," he said.
And, he added, "We want to have the NFC championship game here, too."
-- Jaime Aron
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Jimmy Johnson becomes 'Survivor' celebrity
MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Johnson has become a "Survivor" celebrity, even though he has yet to appear on the show.
Johnson says he knew the CBS reality series was popular, but lately he's surprised to find himself talking more about his experience on "Survivor: Nicaragua" than about football.
"I had a call from my stockbroker today," Johnson said during a conference call Thursday. "He said, 'Coach, my wife could care less if you won national championships or Super Bowls — and we live in Dallas. Could you send her an autographed picture? Because she's a huge "Survivor" fan.'
"That's the typical response I'm getting."
The premiere airs Wednesday, and the 67-year-old Johnson's involvement has already received considerable attention since taping concluded this summer.
The former coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, University of Miami and Oklahoma State spent more than a month as one of 20 castaways. He was part of a team of 10 contestants over the age of 40 competing against a group 30 and under.
The famous ex-coach and former psychology major said he got along well with the others.
"They're fans, and they enjoy talking football," he said. "When things were kind of rough and we were lying on the bamboo at night, they'd say, 'Jimmy, give us a football story.' We really had a great relationship."
To preserve the show's suspense, Johnson didn't say how he fared, or even how much weight he lost. But he said he has only gained about half back.
Johnson's a longtime fan of the show and loves the outdoors. But he said that while he's glad he had the experience, he wouldn't do it again.
"The other day I was talking about how we all smelled, and someone said, 'Why didn't you just go take a shower?'" Johnson said. "I said, 'What, do you think there's a Ritz Carlton down the street? I didn't have any other clothes. I was soaking wet the whole time.'
"It was grueling. It was so much more difficult than I ever imagined."
Johnson's not only thinner, but his famous hair is shorter. He cut it before the show to simplify maintenance.
"I did have my hair shorter than it has been since I've been in high school," he said. "A big part of the show, I was standing there in my underwear, so I wasn't really concerned what I looked like."
Johnson said he doesn't expect "Survivor" celebrity to alter his image, because it was already well established.
"I've gone through national championships, a couple of Super Bowls, I've had my ups and downs," he said. "I went through a 1-15 season in Dallas. I went through a season in high school of not winning a game. I've been through the whole gamut.
"My image is out there, whatever it is. Maybe the Redskins fans and Eagles fans can't stand me, and a lot of Cowboys fans love me. I don't think 'Survivor' is going to change that."
-- Steven Wine
Redskins' Portis trying to be a 'better teammate'
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Here's something unusual: Of all the drama that surrounded the Washington Redskins during training camp and the preseason, none of it had anything to do with Clinton Portis.
The running back known for dressing in costumes, pouting about practicing and criticizing everyone in his path quietly went about his business while Albert Haynesworth and Donovan McNabb dominated the spotlight.
Portis is about 15 pounds slimmer than last season, and teammates say he's been more dedicated and focused than they've seen him in a long time.
"I made it my goal this preseason to make sure I was never the topic of conversation or headlines about missing practice," said Portis, whose only missed time came when he sat out a few days with a sprained ankle. "I wanted to show my teammates I was dedicated to getting myself right."
As he often does, Portis rambled through many topics during his 15 minutes with reporters Thursday. He defended himself more than once and still has that ever-present chip on his shoulder, but his only sharp comments were aimed at the press, which he long ago decided wasn't always going to be on his side anyway.
"Even though y'all want me to be forgotten about," Portis said, "I'm still here."
For a while, it wasn't certain he would be back. Portis missed the last eight games of last season after suffering a severe concussion in a helmet-to-helmet hit in a game against Atlanta. It was several months before he was medically cleared, and the annual circus that the Redskins had become had him wondering if it was time to try to move on to another team.
"Did I question whether I would be back with the Redskins? Yes," Portis said. "I know, as far as this town, it's a bittersweet relationship. On Sundays, they love me. On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday when the headlines come out, it's a lot of hatred. So you get in that bittersweet relationship, it's like wanting to start over, wanting to start new."
The Redskins hired Mike Shanahan and Bruce Allen were hired as coach and general manager. Portis' finest years came under Shanahan in 2002-03 with the Denver Broncos.
"It was a new regime coming in, and luckily for me it was coach Shanahan," Portis said. "I think (it was) having coach Shanahan coming in here and Bruce Allen, and knowing now we're legit, like we really got a chance, like things are going to change."
Portis also got healthy again. As scary as the concussion was, he is now able to call it "a blessing."
"I think that was a blessing. I think that gave you the opportunity to go out and realize how much being on this field really meant to you, how much being around your teammates meant," Portis said. "I was gone after Week Eight, and I still got the finger pointed at me like I was the problem the last eight weeks of the season. I think it gave me a chance to go out and take a look in the mirror and realize the things that are my faults and things I was doing wrong and the person I needed to be."
So what was he doing wrong?
"Honestly, I don't feel like I was doing nothing wrong but telling the truth," Portis said, "but at the same time I got to the point of, 'I could be a better teammate.'"
For Portis, being a better teammates meant putting in more time at Redskins Park and complaining less. It helps, though, that the one thing he complained the most about — too many practices in full pads — isn't a problem under Shanahan, who limits contact to keep the players fresh.
"I always asked to be out of pads," Portis said. "Now I don't have to ask."
The Redskins are making Portis wear one of the new helmets with extra cushioning designed to help prevent concussions. He wasn't happy about it at first, but he's getting used to it.
"It's actually a comfortable helmet," he said. "I don't know if it's going to prevent concussions or anything else. I'm not going to go out and play cautious. I'm going to go out and throw my body around like I've been doing and leave it in God's hands."
A year ago, Portis was talking about hitting the 10,000-yard mark and passing John Riggins as the franchise's all-time rusher, but his injury left him short of both goals. Portis took a potshot at Riggins last year, saying it was "really not hard to be a great running back" when Riggins played because those Redskins teams were so talented. That was actually a bit mild compared to some of Portis' previous at-large criticisms, which have aimed at everyone from LaVar Arrington to former coach Jim Zorn to his own offensive line.
This time, when Riggins' name was mentioned, Portis didn't say a thing about the Hall of Fame back and instead downplayed his focus on the record.
"Every time I look forward to doing something, something negative happens," said Portis, who turned 29 last week. "I think milestones are going to matter the most when it's all said and done, when I walk away from football and actually get a chance to look back and say, 'Wow, I did that.' ... When it's all said and done, I think I'll be a part of elite company, and I'm cool with that."
Notes: Shanahan announced his captains Thursday, and his method is about as complicated as the Electoral College. McNabb (offense) and LB London Fletcher (defense) were elected to serve the entire season. LB Lorenzo Alexander was elected special teams captain for Game 1, an honor that changes weekly depending on whom is chosen the special teams player of the game. After eight games, the players will then elected another set of captains for offense, defense and special teams to serve with McNabb and Fletcher for the rest of the season. ... Only three players did not take part in the full practice Thursday: LB Andre Carter (illness), S Kareem Moore (knee) and LB Perry Riley (foot). Carter is expected to practice Friday.
-- Joseph White
New Daktronics displays set to debut
BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — Several jumbo video displays built by Brookings-based scoreboard system maker Daktronics Inc. will soon be making their pro football regular season debuts.
Four Daktronics high-definition video displays adorn end-zone corners at the New Meadowlands Stadium, home of the NFL's New York Jets and New York Giants.
Daktronics also supplied an upgraded video display system to the Baltimore Ravens, two giant video boards and digital ribbon boards to the Washington Redskins and new end-zone displays to the New England Patriots.
The NFL's regular season begins Thursday.
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Colts hoping battered line holds up against Texans
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Charlie Johnson understands the stakes in Sunday's season opener against Houston.
As the Indianapolis Colts' left tackle, he must keep former No. 1 draft pick Mario Williams away from Peyton Manning. As part of the offensive line, he's one of five guys responsible for keeping Manning upright. And as the only veteran with any experience protecting Manning's blind side, well, Johnson needs to play at his best — even if he's hurt.
The Colts don't allow anyone to make excuses.
"No matter who is out there, we expect them to play at a high level," Johnson said Thursday. "That's the way it was before I came here, and that's the way it will be here long after I'm gone."
This is no typical challenge for Indy.
The offensive line has traditionally ranked among the league's best at preventing sacks, but is coming off a dreadful preseason in which the Colts allowed eight sacks and committed 12 turnovers.
Part of the reason: Injuries.
Johnson sprained his right foot in practice Aug. 6 and didn't make it back onto the field until Wednesday. Four days after Johnson got hurt, Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Saturday, the anchor of Indy's line, didn't return until last week.
The Colts added another complication Wednesday with their most surprising move of the summer — releasing former second-round pick Tony Ugoh. The Colts were so convinced Ugoh would blossom into the left tackle of the future that they traded a 2008 first-round pick to San Francisco so they could take Ugoh with the 42nd overall pick in the 2007 draft.
Things never worked out.
After starting 23 games in his first two seasons, Johnson beat out Ugoh for the starting job last summer. This year, the Colts had hoped Ugoh would win the vacant job at left guard.
Instead, Johnson's early injury forced Ugoh to return to his old spot, and Jamey Richard wound up the big winner when Johnson went down with a foot injury Aug. 26 at Green Bay.
"Tony certainly has had one of those tough stretches during the preseason, up and down," coach Jim Caldwell said Thursday. "Basically we were not quite certain about his health. We weren't quite certain that he'd get back, so we had to make a decision."
Ugoh's release could come with a steep price.
If Johnson can't play Sunday — and he's making no guarantees — Manning's blind side will likely be protected by 6-foot-4, 311-pound Jeff Linkenbach, an undrafted rookie out of Cincinnati.
"I know there's a chance I'll play," Linkenbach said. "If I do, I've just got to go out there and execute."
Executing in this offense is never easy for rookies.
Tight end Dallas Clark has repeatedly said it took him three years to learn all the nuances of Manning's no-huddle system and rookie linemen have contended previously that it takes time to figure out Saturday's calls, too.
Just don't expect the Colts to simplify the calls for Linkenbach.
"Link had better get ready," Saturday said with a smile. "We've never done that as long as I've been here. Whoever is out there is the team that we'll field, and we'll run our offense the way we always do."
The good news for Indy is that it appears Saturday and Manning will be working in tandem at Houston.
Though neither Caldwell nor Saturday have officially said Saturday will start, he did go through all drills for the second straight time Thursday.
Johnson did only limited work for a second straight day as he tests the foot, but things are sounding better and Johnson insists there is nothing for fans to worry about.
"I'd say if we had two or three first or second-year guys in there, I'd be concerned," Johnson said. "With guys like me and Jeff, though, we have a lot of experience."
-- Michael Marot
