Two Dallas Cowboys Are Eager to Play Before Standing Room Fans in London

Danny White and Ed (Too Tall) Jones of the Dallas Cowboys figure to be looking at the crowd as much as the crowd is looking at them when they meet the Chicago Bears in an NFL preseason game in London this summer.

Wembley Stadium is expected to be packed with a sellout crowd of more than 80,000 fans.

In the best tradition of English soccer, the brand of football usually played at Wembley, only half of those in attendance will have seats. The rest will stand through the three-hour game.

“I can hardly wait to see how it’s going to work with all of those fans--40,000 standing room,” Jones, the Cowboys’ veteran defensive end, said.

Jones and White visited Wembley last week as part of a brief tour to promote the Aug. 3 game with the defending Super Bowl champions. There also have been appearances on British morning television shows, stops in Hyde Park and a visit by Jones to the training camp of British heavyweight Frank Bruno, who fights World Boxing Assn. champion Tim Witherspoon of the United States for the title at Wembley July 19.

“I saw the area that they’ll be standing in,” Jones said of the stadium tour. “That’s going to be something to see.”

White, the quarterback who stands to break several team passing records this season, also said he was anxious to see the spectators.

“The whole crowd thing is going to be interesting for us,” he said, “to see how they react to the game. They’ll be packed in there.”

With its broad, flat roof extending over the tiers of stands, Wembley looks a bit like Texas Stadium, the plush arena in Irving, Texas, where the Cowboys play their home games.

That is where the similarities end, however.

“Totally different,” Jones said of the two facilities.

But White and Jones gave Wembley high marks, especially for the playing surface of thick, natural grass.

“The field looks really nice,” White said. “That’s really our only concern. It’s beautiful, a very well kept playing surface.”

Jones said that, if Texas Stadium had grass rather than an artificial surface, “I’d love to take the groundskeeper back with me, I guarantee you. The field looked great.”