PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT

Say what? Jerry Jones, Cowboys’ owner, asked to talk about today’s athlete and his penchant for trash talk, said, “These guys are like fighter pilots. In Vietnam we would send our young people off and let them risk their being and let them come back home and we would provide ways for them to let their hair down. We would provide ways for them to relax--USO--because those guys in their own way laid it out on the line.

“There’s a lot of that from the men that play this game. There is a lot of that. They are at risk. They basically step out and they put their careers at risk. And they play it as recklessly and as aggressively as it has ever been played. With that, and with the way they motivate themselves in a lot of cases, comes this thing called trash talk.”

*

Jones said the planned expansion of Texas Stadium--from 64,000 seats to 104,000--will keep the team winning.

“We want to be the largest domed, air-conditioned venue in the United States,” Jones said. “We know that the Dallas-Fort Worth area has the interest in the Cowboys to support that kind of attendance.

“One of the things I always would like to do is keep the incentive out in front of us to be winners. As often as we’re criticized for pushing a lot out onto the table, if you think about it, that makes you work real hard. I think our project at Texas Stadium will do that.”

*

The Cowboys have 26 players and three coaches who have never experienced playing in a Super Bowl.

Safety Scott Case, who played 11 years for Atlanta before signing as a free agent with the Cowboys this season, will be making his first appearance in the Super Bowl.

“He was sitting there crying after the NFC championship game,” said Alundis Brice, a rookie defensive back for the Cowboys. “You look at a person like Scott, it took him so long to get here; the veterans remind us every day how lucky we are to be here.”