Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001

Report: Cowboys consider Central Texas for part of training camp

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Central Texas officials are negotiating to bring two weeks of the Dallas Cowboys' annual training camp to the Alamodome.

City Councilman David Garcia said Monday that San Antonio officials had had two meetings with what he called “excited” Cowboys officials.

“But Jerry Jones is a shrewd businessman, and we all have to sit down and look at the figures,” Garcia told the San Antonio Express-News in Tuesday's editions.

Talks were expected to continue Wednesday in Irving, where Alamodome manager Mike Abington is scheduled to meet with Dallas director of marketing John Hickman and Jerry Jones Jr., the Cowboys' vice president. Any agreement would need City Council approval before being implemented.
However, Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple would not confirm that San Antonio was the team's leading choice for 2002.

“We're in the process of considering potential sites for future training camps, but it's premature for us to talk specifics at this time,” Dalrymple said. “There are a few different options in Texas that are being considered.”

Garcia said two National Football League-quality outdoor practice fields would need to be built. He estimated the cost of those grass fields to be between $2 million and $3 million.

Wichita Falls has played host to the Cowboys the past three years. But Dallas' contract with Midwestern State expired last year.

Any scheduled workouts in San Antonio would follow a two-week training camp in California. The Cowboys spent 27 years training at Cal Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks, Calif., before moving to Austin in 1990.

“It's something that makes sense,” said Garcia. “San Antonio loves the Cowboys, all of South Texas loves the Cowboys and all of Mexico loves the Cowboys. That sort of fan base inherently makes this an attractive venue.”

Officials of McAllen and Mission, in talks last summer, offered to split costs and cover the team's expenses over three years, but construction delays have stymied plans.

A source close to the negotiations said the Cowboys would allow San Antonio to sponsor a scrimmage every year during the proposed agreement. A similar scrimmage once drew more than 50,000 people to El Paso's Sun Bowl.

“The economic benefit of the Cowboys coming would be great to both sides,” County Commissioner Lyle Larson said. “With the Spurs leaving the Alamodome, this is the sort of thing we have to work on to fill the vacancy.”