Sanders’ Cowboys Hit Town : Oklahoma State Ready to Begin Holiday Bowl Work

There was Barry Sanders, Heisman Trophy winner, standing outside the USAir Hangar at Lindbergh Field Friday, giving autographs, giving interviews, giving the fans what they wanted.

Meanwhile, Jason Kidder, an Oklahoma State offensive guard, was simply trying to give away his roast beef sandwich.

Sanders was the first player off the plane. Photographers surrounded him. Reporters stuffed tape recorders and microphones in his face. He was asked how he felt. He was asked how he felt about Wyoming, the team Oklahoma State will play in the Sea World Holiday Bowl Friday. He was asked if he planned to try surfing.

As a band played country music and a Shamu facsimile waved to the crowd, Sanders stood patiently and answered. He spoke quietly, economical with his words. Surfing is out, he said. Not his bag.

There were few reporters around as Kidder discussed with an older gentleman the box lunch he had just been handed.

“You gotta eat the whole thing,” the man said. He was kidding. The lunch wasn’t that big, and Kidder is 6-feet 3-inches, 274 pounds.

“Would you like some?” Kidder asked him, without a hint of insincerity.

The man looked surprised. “No, no,” he said. “Help yourself.”

C’mon, Jason. Big guy like you doesn’t want to eat?

“I’m trying to cut down,” he said with a laugh. “I ate on the plane.”

That’s good, because the plane was nearly 1 1/2 hours late. It seems the team boarded and everything was great until some members of the ground crew found out they couldn’t get all the equipment on board. So players and coaches sat. And sat.

Finally, it was decided that it would be better to send the rest of the equipment on a later flight.

“We got all the essentials in for us to practice tomorrow,” Oklahoma State Coach Pat Jones said. “Other than that, everything went real good.”

So the first set of Cowboys has arrived (Wyoming shares the nickname). Wake up time today is 7 a.m. Jones wants his players to have some fun while they’re here, but he’s not going to let them forget the purpose of the trip. Work first. Play later.

Today’s fun will be a trip to the zoo. Christmas won’t prevent practice Sunday. This is an experienced football team, Jones said. Most of the players, except maybe the freshmen, are used to playing football on Christmas.

“These guys are pretty much veterans of handling bowl situations and big ballgames,” Jones said of a team that has played in bowl games 4 of the past 5 years. “We’re going to try to hit the happy medium between letting them have a good time and still doing the things you’ve got to do to try to win a football game.”

One of those things is to give the ball to Sanders. A lot. Sanders flew past Marcus Allen in the record books this season, rushing for 2,628 yards. He grabbed a Heisman on the way, though he didn’t make a big deal of it. And he helped his team to a 9-2 record. The Cowboys’ losses were to Oklahoma and Nebraska.

So how does all the publicity affect Sanders?

Well, he isn’t much different than he was last year. Humble. Quiet. Unassuming.

Just ask Kidder, who was one of the reasons Sanders ran so well this season.

“He handles it so well,” said Kidder, a senior. “He’s the greatest running back that I’ve ever seen, but he just doesn’t like to feel like he’s a better person than everybody else.”

Last week, for instance, Sanders, fullback Garrett Limbrick and all five offensive linemen were fitted for tuxedos so they could pose in style for a group picture. After his fitting, Kidder was standing outside the shop and noticed a little kid was looking through the window.

Kidder asked him who he was looking for.

“Nobody,” he said.

“Barry’s in there,” Kidder said. “You can go in there if you want to.”

The kid said nothing.

“Come on,” Kidder said. “I’ll take you in.”

They entered the shop. Kidder made the introduction.

Sanders said: “Hey, man. I was just coming out there to meet you.”

Sanders appeared less comfortable here after stepping off the plane. He would probably prefer to see a linebacker headed for him than a reporter any day. But he said he is happy to be here. And he knows what to do.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun,” he said, “but we have to take care of business also.”

Notes

Jones said all of his players passed a drug test and everybody who was eligible was on the plane. Two starters who have missed part of the season with injury, Joe King (defensive back) and Bobby Raynor (linebacker), are expected to play Friday. Jones said the players won’t have curfews until Sunday night. Practice will last at least 2 hours daily.