THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412110178
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
With 12 years on the Cowboys, Jim Jeffcoat is one of the few men to play under each of the team's three head coaches. He has played with their three marquee running backs - Tony Dorsett, Herschel Walker and Emmitt Smith. He has played on 1-15 teams and on those that won back-to-back Super Bowls.
But he has never played in a Pro Bowl.
That could change this year.
The NFL has two spots available - among the 40 candidates - in the Pro Bowl's wildcard category. NFL officials said the wildcard spots were created so players who were not starters - but were popular around the NFL and played significant roles on their teams - would also have an opportunity to play in the Pro Bowl.
That description seems tailor-made for Jeffcoat, who is third on the Cowboys in sacks with seven.
``It would mean a lot to me personally to make the Pro Bowl, because it would be my first time getting to the Pro Bowl,'' Jeffcoat said. ``That's something that I'm looking forward to doing.''
When told of the NFL's wildcard Pro Bowl spot, Cowboys defensive coordinator Butch Davis said he hopes Jeffcoat is voted in.
And after a career winding to an end?
Jeffcoat, a free agent after this season, would like to play at least another season.
But he also said he wouldn't mind getting one of the three upper-level management positions with the Cowboys that Jerry Jones has said he will give to African-Americans.
BARE-SKIN: Nothing that happens on a football field can be as embarrassing to Bears special-teamer Maurice Douglass as something that occurred during his days as a, ahem, male stripper.
``I went to this lady, and she had a $100 bill out,'' Douglass recalled recently. ``When I bent over to have her put it in my G-string, she pulled the whole thing off. I was trying not to be embarrassed and lose my composure, but I wanted to grab it right back from her. The (bouncers) got my pants back.''
STOP THE PRESSES: Deion Sanders is thinking of retiring.
No kidding.
First, the 49ers have to advance to, and win, the Super Bowl. But the Neon One says if that happens, he may walk away from the game.
``It's one of those things I think about,'' he admitted recently. ``Because then I would have fulfilled my dream. I would have reached my goal. . . . It's something I've thought about in the back of my mind: Man, if I win this thing, I might just leave so I could kick their butts in baseball.''
Speaking of kicked butt, Sanders says that's one of his biggest problems with football.
Since joining the 49ers, he has played through a sprained ankle, a pulled groin and a dislocated finger.
``I've said some things at home I never said before in my life,'' Sanders says, ``where my daughter will jump on me and it's like, `Oh, man . . .' I can't even stand up straight early in the morning, and I'm not in one of those physical positions. It hurts me, and I don't even have much contact.''
Sanders' contract expires in February. The 49ers can keep him only if they exercise a $5 million option - which they've already indicated they won't do. That means Sanders would become a free agent next year and - if he's still interested - available to the highest bidder. But ``at this point in my life,'' he says, ``I'd like to be a 49er. At this point.''
SAINT BE PRAISED: For his honesty. New Orleans coach Jim Mora recently came clean with New Orleans media about the fast fall his team has endured the last couple years. At 5-8, with the Falcons, Cowboys and Broncos still left on the schedule, chances are slim the Saints will reach the .500 mark.
The slide began last year and accelerated quickly. After winning five straight, New Orleans, which was 12-4 in 1992, lost eight of its last 11 games. They are now 7-16 in the last 23 games.
``We haven't done as well as I thought we would in training camp,'' said Mora, who said then he'd be shocked if this team didn't have a winning season. ``I had good vibes about this team, I still do. I'm being realistic now to say I was being unrealistic then.''
Age, free agency, the salary cap and a number of ``descending players'' and players who were finished in the league, all caught up with the Saints last year, Mora said.
The Saints also had to cut more than $12 million to get under the salary cap.
This year's team had 22 newcomers - including quarterback, three starting linebackers, four secondary players and wide receiver Michael Haynes - and seven of the eight draft picks.
The slide actually began just after the 1988 season when Plan B began, Mora said. The Saints watched players leave, but few come in.
``I was a little worried then,'' Mora said. ``But we were winning. You win 11, you win 12 and you think things are going pretty well and they are, then all of a sudden it catches up with you. It caught up with us and we're paying the price now, but I'm still optimistic.''
NFC NUGGETS: The Lions' Barry Sanders' average of 5.7 yards a carry is the highest in the NFL for a leader since O.J. Simpson in 1973. Simpson averaged 6 yards a run in amassing the first 2,000-yard season. . . . The 49ers hope to have defensive lineman Richard Dent back for their next-to-last regular-season game against Denver on Dec. 17. He has been out since the second game of the season with a knee injury. Despite their 11-2 record, they need him. The team's ratio of sacks to passes attempted by their opponents is 1-to-17, the worst by a 'Niners team since 1965. By comparison, the Dallas Cowboys average one sack for every 11.4 passes attempted. . . . The Cowboys have begun contract discussions with wide receiver Michael Irvin. Irvin, who is in the final year of his current deal, is a transition player, which means the minimum the Cowboys can pay him next season is $2.05 million. ``It's a given that we're going to work something out with Michael Irvin,'' owner Jerry Jones said. The Cowboys likely will lose their other wide receiver, Alvin Harper. Harper has made it clear that he wants to go somewhere where he can be the No. 1 wide receiver. . . . The contract Tim Harris signed with the 49ers pays him $10,000 per game and $5,000 per sack. . . . Minnesota's Pro Bowl defensive tackle tandem of John Randle and Henry Thomas did not have a sack in November. week asking him to get involved in keeping the Bucs in Tampa Bay. by CNB