PRO FOOTBALL ’95 : PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : Several Cowboys Are Linked to Airline Scam

The Dallas Cowboys had no comment Friday about an investigation into allegations of fraudulent American Airlines tickets worth $85,000 going to current and former members of the team.

Police at Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport are looking into a complaint by American Airlines corporate security reporting the theft of air fares valued at $85,151.40, said airport spokesman Joe Dealey.

“We’re aware of the ongoing investigation and have no other comment,” said Brett Daniels, a Cowboy spokesman.

An American Airlines ticket agent is alleged to have made 116 fraudulent tickets between October 1994 and August 1995 for players, including Michael Irvin, Charles Haley, Alfredo Roberts, Ron Springs and Everson Walls, among others, Dealey said.

Irvin and Haley are still with the team.

“Although these players, current and former, are named in this offense report . . . at this stage there is no reason to suspect them of any wrongdoing or that the criminal activity perpetrated by this suspect was known by the Cowboys organization,” Dealey said.

Saying the investigation is in a preliminary stage, Dealey would not speculate when charges, if any, might be brought.

There have been no arrests.

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Former NFL quarterback Dan Pastorini accused the Houston Oilers and team owner Bud Adams of lying about medical treatments that extended his career but have left him with health problems.

In a civil fraud suit, filed Thursday, Pastorini said he was injected with “drugs and/or steroids and/or other substances” many times while playing for the Oilers between 1971 and ’80.

Pastorini, 46, alleged the team knew or should have known the drugs would severely shorten his life expectancy and cause long-term permanent disability.

Instead, the suit said, the Oilers “actively and affirmatively concealed” that information by telling him there were no adverse effects.

Filed in state district court by attorney Jimmy Williamson, the suit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages.

“We haven’t seen the lawsuit and have no comment,” Oiler general counsel Steve Underwood said.

The Oilers drafted Pastorini, now a sports commentator for a local TV station, in 1971 and traded him to Oakland in 1980. His NFL career ended in 1982 and he began a career piloting race boats.

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The Oakland Raiders have decided on rookie kicker Cole Ford for Sunday’s opener against San Diego.

Ford, a former USC player released last week by Pittsburgh, edged former San Jose State kicker Joe Nedney in the competition to replace injured veteran Jeff Jaeger. Ford was selected in the seventh round by the Steelers.

Jaeger, sidelined because of a sprained right knee, was put on the inactive list for the game along with running back Joe Aska, linebacker Matt Dyson and offensive tackle Jeff Kysar.

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Special teams player Steve Tasker will not play in the Buffalo Bills’ opener Sunday night at Denver because of a pulled hamstring. Tasker, a six-time Pro Bowl selection who is expected to miss several weeks, will be replaced by Damon Thomas, a second-year wide receiver. . . . Tommy Maddox is moving up the New York Giants’ depth chart so fast that he might enter the Monday night opener against Dallas as the primary backup to starter Dave Brown. Stan White was supposed to hold that position, but Maddox has learned the system quickly since joining the team Wednesday, three days after being released by the St. Louis Rams. The promotion would also let Maddox, the team’s best placement holder on kicks, do that job. The No. 3 quarterback cannot enter the game unless the first two are injured.