SUPER BOWL XXVIII / BUFFALO BILLS vs. DALLAS COWBOYS : Number, but Not a Name : Pro football: They also serve who sit and wait for special situations that will put them in the Super Bowl.

Reporters were lined up three deep around Kelly, Aikman, Smith and Thomas, but Lingner, Crafts, Johnston and Barnett have roles to play in Super Bowl XXVIII. They have stories to tell, and like the game’s best-known stars, they will earn $38,000 each for a victory, $23,500 for a loss. In most cases, beyond the numbers on their back, the supporting cast goes unnoticed, unless touched by fate.

Raider linebacker Jack Squirek was left to himself during three media sessions before Super Bowl XVIII, but he was mobbed by reporters after intercepting a pass by Washington’s Joe Theismann and returning it five yards for a touchdown.

Emmitt Smith or Thurman Thomas might run off with MVP honors this time. Jim Kelly or Troy Aikman will probably enhance their opportunities for endorsements. Oliver Barnett and Daryl Johnston might remain in the background Sunday, but they can’t say they were ignored.

BUFFALO’S NO. 77

Oliver Barnett, defensive end: If he were a starter, every columnist in the country would be parked at his table on media day. His mother kept him from playing high school football because of a head injury; he plays chess, can squat 850 pounds and has a Spiderman comic book worth more than $1,000. “I collect Spiderman and The Incredible Hulk comic books because I kind of see myself in both of them,” he said. “If no one ever pushes the Hulk, he’s an all-right human. But if he gets upset, he has the power to deal with anything that comes his way. The Spiderman is the everyday Joe who pulls little pranks almost as a challenge.” Players such as Jim Kelly and Thomas go to bed dreaming of touchdowns; what does a reserve defensive end dream of before a Super Bowl? “Dallas has the ball, they are driving, our guys are dog tired and they need a play. It’s a crucial point of the game. It’s third and long and I make the quarterback fumble. I hit the ball and it rolls out from a crowd of people. I pick it up and run it in for a touchdown,” he said. “Of course, my teachers thought I had a really vivid imagination as a youngster.”

DALLAS’ NO. 48

Daryl Johnston, fullback: True story--he bit the head off a frog once. “I’m not proud of it,” he said. “I did it in high school, but I wish it hadn’t happened.” He was nicknamed “Moose” by former Cowboy quarterback Babe Laufenberg. “After eight years of playing football, the accomplishment I’m remembered for is naming a fullback Moose,” Laufenberg said. Former CBS announcer John Madden picked up the nickname and made Johnston an overnight star. Johnston ran 24 times for 74 yards this season and made it to the Pro Bowl as a blocking fullback. “The nickname doesn’t create a very flattering image if you’re a running back,” Johnston said. “But every bar owner in the country with ‘Moose’ in their name has sent me stuff. I’ve had lodges in Maine and Alaska ask me to come up, and I’ve probably gotten 20 stuffed mooses from fans.”

BUFFALO’S NO. 89

Steve Tasker, special teams: Voted MVP of last season’s Pro Bowl. “That says a lot about the attitude of the players when they play in the Pro Bowl,” said Tasker. “You got guys making $1.2, $1.5 and $2.3 million playing for room-service tip money. For me, besides the kicker and punter, I’m the only guy out there on special teams who knows what he’s doing. There should never be a Pro Bowl where the special teams player doesn’t win the MVP.” He looks out of place in a football uniform. “I’ll have a father come up and say, ‘See son, you don’t have to be big and strong and fast to be in the NFL.’ I don’t know whether to say thanks or get mad. We were out to dinner here and I’m with 6-7 tight end Pete Metzelaars, but I’m just another guy looking for Super Bowl tickets as far as the people in the restaurant are concerned.” He’s a son of a Methodist minister and grew up in Leoti, Kan. “They have a sign up that says, ‘Home of Steve Tasker 1993 Pro Bowl MVP,’ ” he said. “I’m big medicine back there.” Weighed 135 pounds when he began playing college ball for Dodge City Community College. Took a scholarship to play at Northwestern and his 24.3-yard kickoff return average remains a school record. “I had three older brothers who toughened me up. There’s an old joke: The worst kids in town are the preachers’ kids. That was pretty much the case with us. We fought with each other, and we must have broken 25 windows in the parsonage: rocks; bats; someone’s head.” He has played in 135 NFL games, is listed as wide receiver, but has never started and has 10 receptions, three for touchdowns.

DALLAS’ NO. 43

Elvis Patterson, special teams: The New York Giants cut him after he went on a drinking binge, the San Diego Chargers let him loose a short time after he placed a garbage bag over the head of a reporter and the Raiders traded him to Dallas earlier this season after he mouthed off to Coach Art Shell. “The Cowboys traded for me to keep this franchise in a winning position,” Patterson said. “I left the Raiders after being one of the best, if not the best, special teams player in their history.” He played for the Giants when they won Super Bowl XXI. “Had the only interception and was in the running to be MVP,” he said with exaggeration. Nicknamed “Toast” in New York for his penchant for getting burned at cornerback, he now wears a diamond-studded necklace of a ghost. “I have the ability to be in places that nobody would expect me, thereby giving me the ability to make big plays.” OK.

BUFFALO’S NO. 63

Adam Lingner, deep snapper: He has played 11 years in the NFL and has started one game. With lots of spare time he has worked as a model for Sears and now is trying to become spokesman for “Snapper” mowers and snow-blowers. Will be playing in his fourth Super Bowl, and the outcome might hinge on his performance. “It’s a dream come true,” admitted Lingner, who earns more than $300,000 to snap the ball on all punts, extra-point and field-goal attempts. “I was the guy who snapped the ball for Scott Norwood in Super Bowl XXV.” Norwood’s wide-right effort from 47 yards with four seconds remaining began the Bills’ Super Bowl nose-dive. “After that game I went to Scott and said, ‘Sorry about that, kid, but the snap was perfect. . . .’ I thought I was going to be involved on the play that won the Super Bowl.” He had his own radio show in Buffalo with Addams Family music and personalized lyrics: “He’s friendly and he’s dapper, he is the Bills’ long snapper, he’s really quite a rapper, the Adam Lingner Show.”

DALLAS’ NO. 40

Bill Bates, special teams: He started 42 of 43 games before Jimmy Johnson’s arrival in 1989 and hasn’t started since. “It was very tough to see one of the greatest coaches in history, like Tom Landry, get cut like every player. He was a friend and a great man, and then Jimmy Johnson came in, and I knew right away they didn’t want me at safety.” Bates survived, however, by making himself valuable on special teams. “I lead the league in leaving blood on the field,” said Bates, who showed reporters hands that have been shredded by cleats and helmet collisions. Missed last year’s Super Bowl because of a knee injury. “I spend all week visualizing what I am going to do in the game. I’ve done it throughout my career,” said Bates, who owns a 380-acre dude ranch outside Dallas. “I see myself forcing a fumble on special teams.”

BUFFALO’S NO. 66

Jerry Crafts, tackle: He played in every regular-season game, and both playoff contests, as backup to John Fina and Howard Ballard, but the Super Bowl, better known as “down time” to this 351-pound entrepreneur, is just going to kill business. Folks in Buffalo will be watching the game, and so Crafts said his business, “66 Limousine Incorporated” will have to lower prices Sunday to draw interest. “Got the biggest limo in western New York,” he said proudly, “31 1/2 feet.” He has rented the tux, too, to drive on occasion, but football fame has ruined the experience. “They get as good a service as anybody else, but once they find out one of the Bills is driving, they don’t tip as much.”

DALLAS’ NO. 77

Jim Jeffcoat, defensive end: The Cowboys’ improvement from a 1-15 season in 1989 to a present-day powerhouse is best evidenced by fact the team can hold Jeffcoat in reserve. Jeffcoat is team’s all-time sack leader with 86 1/2, and yet he shares time with Tony Tolbert. “He has been around the league, what, 20 years?” teammate Russell Maryland asked. Jeffcoat, 32, is completing year No. 11. “The NFC East Division was a smash-mouth division, but Jimmy Johnson changed the whole division and went to a speed concept. The trend had been to go to the power game, but Johnson was courageous enough to struggle through a 1-15 season and develop this group,” Jeffcoat said. His six sacks this season were second to Tolbert’s 7 1/2. “Randy White said it best one time: Fear motivates you. The fear of getting beat. The fear of failure.”

BUFFALO’S NO. 94

Mark Pike, special teams: Has played in 114 NFL games, has never started, but is on a first-name basis with Downtown Julie Brown. “One of my buddies picked her up and lifted her over his head at Super Bowl XXV,” he said. “I don’t think she’s ever forgotten that.” While reporters interviewed his more well-known teammates, Pike was left alone to videotape the proceedings. “I will never be a starter with the Bills, and they don’t expect me to be,” Pike said. “If they expected me to be, I would have been out of here a long time ago.” He plays behind defensive end Bruce Smith and in the special teams shadow of Steve Tasker. He has led the Bills in special teams tackles four of the last six years. “It’s a little unusual to have a defensive lineman specializing in special teams,” he said. “It’s a little difficult when you think you’re doing just as good a job as someone else (Tasker) and they get more attention.”